Help Zeus-Zeus' Story
Donation protected
This is Zeus, and he is in trouble. I need help.
Over about a week Zeus was gagging, coughing and trying to throw up. He only produced foamy, slimy stomach stuff, but he did it so many times a day I was worried. When Monday came around I was going to take him to the vet. His regular vet couldn’t see him till Thursday; that was too far away. So I took him to the local Animal Emergency Clinic. They checked him out, did an x-ray and found a mass in his stomach that they couldn’t diagnose or identify any more clearly. He needed surgery. I spoke with a specialty veterinarian who had taken care of his sister and fortunately she (and her daughter who is also a veterinary surgeon) could see him that day. So Ii took Zeus to this trusted veterinary surgery group and they did the surgery he needed. Their radiologist was concerned it might be a stomach tumor, but he needed surgery regardless. Monday afternoon he had surgery and the mass in his stomach was CARROTS!! I had given him carrots in his food; baby carrots that I cut in about 4 pieces and cooked to where I thought it was soft but apparently they were no good for Zeus and they were stuck in the pyloric part of his stomach causing him trouble. He couldn’t digest them, couldn’t throw them up and couldn’t pass them down. All he could do was try to cough them out, and he did that so much he ended up with megaesophagus. The concern then became that he would develop pneumonia, and he did. He stayed at the vets office on Monday after surgery and on Monday night. The vet told me he needed to go a clinic that could monitor and treat him 24/7, that they were not equipped to do so. The Animal Emergency Clinic was, so they transported him back there. He is in ICU. He has a fever of 104.2, pulse oximetry is 94. The plan is to put oxygen cannulas down both nostrils because he is too big to fit in an oxygen cage. He is on anti-nausea medicines and antibiotics. And of course he has the belly incision. I am not sure what else is happening for him, but I am so scared. But Zeus is tough, and I am hopeful he will fight to get better and to get home in a day or two.
I know he is strong because he had to be. You see Zeus had a difficult start to life. He must have been born in a puppy mill because I hear he was purchased by a military family in the Hampton Bay, VA area who wanted to keep him small by not feeding him much. After a while he got too big anyway and the family got busted for having him so they gave my sweet baby boy Zeus to their barber who had other big dogs who ganged up on him and beat him up. So he spent months in a garage, barely fed before he came into rescue. The rescuers called him Zeus Moose because his head was so large in proportion to his poor starved body. They didn’t know if he would survive. He had to be gently re-fed to get his weight up before he could be neutered. Finally he made it. When he got strong enough the rescuer looked for a home for Zeus and found me. I was glad to take him in and swore he would never be hungry again. He is such a sweet, loving boy! I regularly thank him for being strong and surviving so he could come live with me. He has a sister, another Bernese Mountain Dog who is about a year younger than he is. They get along well, and peacefully coexist.
Somehow I have to pay for his current medical care and I’m scared that i might not be able to. That is why I am requesting this GoFundMe for him. His surgical care with be about $3500, and his care at the Animal Emergency clinic was $377 for initial diagnostics and is $1835 for admission and $3700 for the second day. The clinic was very insistent on getting that $1835 deposit immediately and called me twice before noon to make sure they would get the money (prior to treatment? Lordy I hope not!). I am a retiree on a very fixed income and have recently been hit with a big tax bill so my pockets are pretty bare. That all adds up to $9412, and this is an estimate. It may be more. But I must help sweet Zeus, so I am asking for help for him. Please help me take care of my sweet baby boy. Anything will help, and if there are contributions beyond his needs I will direct them to a local animal charity. Thank you in advance for your kindness and your charity.
Oh, and by the way, don’t feed your dog carrots even if the experts on the web say they can eat carrots! These were small, soft, cooked carrots and they still hurt him. No carrots!
And pray for him please, and for all the babies out there who need help.
Thank you.
Over about a week Zeus was gagging, coughing and trying to throw up. He only produced foamy, slimy stomach stuff, but he did it so many times a day I was worried. When Monday came around I was going to take him to the vet. His regular vet couldn’t see him till Thursday; that was too far away. So I took him to the local Animal Emergency Clinic. They checked him out, did an x-ray and found a mass in his stomach that they couldn’t diagnose or identify any more clearly. He needed surgery. I spoke with a specialty veterinarian who had taken care of his sister and fortunately she (and her daughter who is also a veterinary surgeon) could see him that day. So Ii took Zeus to this trusted veterinary surgery group and they did the surgery he needed. Their radiologist was concerned it might be a stomach tumor, but he needed surgery regardless. Monday afternoon he had surgery and the mass in his stomach was CARROTS!! I had given him carrots in his food; baby carrots that I cut in about 4 pieces and cooked to where I thought it was soft but apparently they were no good for Zeus and they were stuck in the pyloric part of his stomach causing him trouble. He couldn’t digest them, couldn’t throw them up and couldn’t pass them down. All he could do was try to cough them out, and he did that so much he ended up with megaesophagus. The concern then became that he would develop pneumonia, and he did. He stayed at the vets office on Monday after surgery and on Monday night. The vet told me he needed to go a clinic that could monitor and treat him 24/7, that they were not equipped to do so. The Animal Emergency Clinic was, so they transported him back there. He is in ICU. He has a fever of 104.2, pulse oximetry is 94. The plan is to put oxygen cannulas down both nostrils because he is too big to fit in an oxygen cage. He is on anti-nausea medicines and antibiotics. And of course he has the belly incision. I am not sure what else is happening for him, but I am so scared. But Zeus is tough, and I am hopeful he will fight to get better and to get home in a day or two.
I know he is strong because he had to be. You see Zeus had a difficult start to life. He must have been born in a puppy mill because I hear he was purchased by a military family in the Hampton Bay, VA area who wanted to keep him small by not feeding him much. After a while he got too big anyway and the family got busted for having him so they gave my sweet baby boy Zeus to their barber who had other big dogs who ganged up on him and beat him up. So he spent months in a garage, barely fed before he came into rescue. The rescuers called him Zeus Moose because his head was so large in proportion to his poor starved body. They didn’t know if he would survive. He had to be gently re-fed to get his weight up before he could be neutered. Finally he made it. When he got strong enough the rescuer looked for a home for Zeus and found me. I was glad to take him in and swore he would never be hungry again. He is such a sweet, loving boy! I regularly thank him for being strong and surviving so he could come live with me. He has a sister, another Bernese Mountain Dog who is about a year younger than he is. They get along well, and peacefully coexist.
Somehow I have to pay for his current medical care and I’m scared that i might not be able to. That is why I am requesting this GoFundMe for him. His surgical care with be about $3500, and his care at the Animal Emergency clinic was $377 for initial diagnostics and is $1835 for admission and $3700 for the second day. The clinic was very insistent on getting that $1835 deposit immediately and called me twice before noon to make sure they would get the money (prior to treatment? Lordy I hope not!). I am a retiree on a very fixed income and have recently been hit with a big tax bill so my pockets are pretty bare. That all adds up to $9412, and this is an estimate. It may be more. But I must help sweet Zeus, so I am asking for help for him. Please help me take care of my sweet baby boy. Anything will help, and if there are contributions beyond his needs I will direct them to a local animal charity. Thank you in advance for your kindness and your charity.
Oh, and by the way, don’t feed your dog carrots even if the experts on the web say they can eat carrots! These were small, soft, cooked carrots and they still hurt him. No carrots!
And pray for him please, and for all the babies out there who need help.
Thank you.
Organizer
Kaye Taylor
Organizer
Knoxville, TN