Help with Pony's Knee Surgery
Donation protected
Meet Pony. Pony is our quarantine pup. She came to us from Pittie Posse, a wonderful pitbull shelter in Maine, though we think she was born in Alabama March 17th, 2020.
We picked Pony up when she was only 4 months old, all skin and bones and a little trembly and shy. Our daughter cried when she met Pony. You see, Luna had written "a puppy" on every birthday and holiday wishlist she has ever made, probably for the past 12 years. So for her wish to FINALLY come true after such a long time meant a lot!!!
We then had a great time getting to know Pony over the next 6 months, often taking her up to off-leash hours in Mount Prospect Park in the mornings and letting her do her puppy thing. She loves other dogs and people and had a great time running and wrestling and socializing to her heart's content! We even signed her up with a wonderful dog walking outfit called Jay Walkers once per week, who take a whole pack of dogs at a time and spend hours either at the beach or in designated dog parks around Brooklyn.
Then, in January, we noticed that she was limping, trying not to put too much pressure on her rear right leg. After naps she would get up and have to give it an extra stretch before she felt comfortable walking around. We, of course, took her straight to the vet to get all of the preliminary tests, including tests for lime disease, as that often causes joint problems. Everything came back negative except for the x-rays, and our vet informed us that she had likely torn her Cranial Cruciate ligament in both knees (but worse in her right knee). While this issue occurs for many dogs, it is very uncommon for a dog as young as Pony (she was 10 months at the time). The diagnosis was confirmed after having the x-rays examined by a radiologist.
The next step was an orthopedic specialist and we also called on friends with vets in the family to confirm...we ended up with 3 identical opinions. It was recommended that we delay an operation until Pony got a little bit older (at least 1 year old!!) and we were given anti-inflammatory medication as well as pain killers. But the only true remedy was determined to be surgery...one knee at a time, but both knees will have to be fixed! So we've had to limit Pony's walks to about 10 minutes at a time, really only taking her out to relieve herself and bringing her right back inside so the tears don't get worse.
This new, minimal movement regimen has been difficult for all of us, and extremely so for Pony who is a very energetic pup. At least twice per day she gets "the zoomies" and we do our best to redirect her energy into anything that will be easier on her legs. When we take her out on walks we do our best to avoid contact with any other dogs we may encounter on the street as her young spirit can't resist trying to wrestle and play with them.
Even so, we have definitely seen her condition worsen, especially in her left knee, which initially was the less affected of the two and now seems to have caught up to the right knee. It is absolutely heart breaking to see her limping around like this!
And so we've landed here, asking you and anyone who cares, for help. In Brooklyn, each surgery will cost around $6,000. I should mention that we do actually have pet insurance for Pony, but built into the policy is a waiting period of 6 months before they will even consider helping with Cranial Cruciate Ligament tears.
Our family, like so many others, has not had the most fruitful year in terms of income due to Covid and the way it affected our jobs, so we are very hopeful that we can get some financial support from generous folks such as yourself. If you can help ease this burden we would be forever grateful to you...and of course every little bit would help!!
We picked Pony up when she was only 4 months old, all skin and bones and a little trembly and shy. Our daughter cried when she met Pony. You see, Luna had written "a puppy" on every birthday and holiday wishlist she has ever made, probably for the past 12 years. So for her wish to FINALLY come true after such a long time meant a lot!!!
We then had a great time getting to know Pony over the next 6 months, often taking her up to off-leash hours in Mount Prospect Park in the mornings and letting her do her puppy thing. She loves other dogs and people and had a great time running and wrestling and socializing to her heart's content! We even signed her up with a wonderful dog walking outfit called Jay Walkers once per week, who take a whole pack of dogs at a time and spend hours either at the beach or in designated dog parks around Brooklyn.
Then, in January, we noticed that she was limping, trying not to put too much pressure on her rear right leg. After naps she would get up and have to give it an extra stretch before she felt comfortable walking around. We, of course, took her straight to the vet to get all of the preliminary tests, including tests for lime disease, as that often causes joint problems. Everything came back negative except for the x-rays, and our vet informed us that she had likely torn her Cranial Cruciate ligament in both knees (but worse in her right knee). While this issue occurs for many dogs, it is very uncommon for a dog as young as Pony (she was 10 months at the time). The diagnosis was confirmed after having the x-rays examined by a radiologist.
The next step was an orthopedic specialist and we also called on friends with vets in the family to confirm...we ended up with 3 identical opinions. It was recommended that we delay an operation until Pony got a little bit older (at least 1 year old!!) and we were given anti-inflammatory medication as well as pain killers. But the only true remedy was determined to be surgery...one knee at a time, but both knees will have to be fixed! So we've had to limit Pony's walks to about 10 minutes at a time, really only taking her out to relieve herself and bringing her right back inside so the tears don't get worse.
This new, minimal movement regimen has been difficult for all of us, and extremely so for Pony who is a very energetic pup. At least twice per day she gets "the zoomies" and we do our best to redirect her energy into anything that will be easier on her legs. When we take her out on walks we do our best to avoid contact with any other dogs we may encounter on the street as her young spirit can't resist trying to wrestle and play with them.
Even so, we have definitely seen her condition worsen, especially in her left knee, which initially was the less affected of the two and now seems to have caught up to the right knee. It is absolutely heart breaking to see her limping around like this!
And so we've landed here, asking you and anyone who cares, for help. In Brooklyn, each surgery will cost around $6,000. I should mention that we do actually have pet insurance for Pony, but built into the policy is a waiting period of 6 months before they will even consider helping with Cranial Cruciate Ligament tears.
Our family, like so many others, has not had the most fruitful year in terms of income due to Covid and the way it affected our jobs, so we are very hopeful that we can get some financial support from generous folks such as yourself. If you can help ease this burden we would be forever grateful to you...and of course every little bit would help!!
Organizer
Nikolai Moderbacher
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY