Background

In August 2014, Jane adopted Honey the shih tzu (@honeytamtams) from Social Tees Animal Rescue in NYC. A little blind and deaf, and always hungry and sassy, Honey was welcomed into the family with loving arms and has been living her best life with the Tams ever since.

Fatty Lump or Cancer?

Honey, who is now approximately 8-9 years old, went to the vet a few weeks ago because a raised bump on her head had a scratch on it. The bump is approximately 1.5 cm and located on her head above her right eye. Now, this bump had been around since 2017 but Jane noticed it had recently grown bigger. While the vet had previously tested it a few times via fine needle aspiration (a type of biopsy procedure), it did not seem worrisome and the sample had not been examined by a lab.

This time, the vet did another needle aspiration to the now larger bump and sent it off to determine if it was a fatty lump or a mast cell tumor. Unfortunately, it was bad news. The cytology results revealed it was indeed a mast cell tumor. Honey had cancer.

Surgery and Treatment Costs

The recommended course for treatment is for Honey to have surgery. While she is under anesthesia, the vet will remove a wide diameter of the bump, with hopefully clean margins, in addition to removing a smaller, separate bump on her breast bone area as a precautionary measure. Honey’s surgery is scheduled for Friday, June 25.

The surgery, lab work, and steroids are estimated to cost $1,500. Depending on post-op results, Honey may need to see an oncologist for further treatment and tests to check for possible spread of the cancer, which may cost additional.

How You Can Help

Our dogs are such an important part of our lives and we would do anything for them. We are asking our community of dog owners and dog lovers for a little assistance in covering costs for Honey’s treatment. We want Jane to focus on helping Honey get better so she can get back to being the grumpy shih tzu we all know and love.

Any help is appreciated, whether a small monetary donation, sharing the GoFundMe link on your social media, or supporting Jane's small business OhCrystalHoney. All donations received will go directly towards Honey’s vet bills and any funds leftover will be donated to Social Tees Animal Rescue, which Jane is a regular donor to. We are grateful to you for your kindness and support.

Thank you so much for reading.

Your pals,

Ang, Annie, and Kassie

(Humans to Truman, Lardon, and Marlowe)