Hi everyone! As much as I hate to have to do this, I have exhausted all my options and need to ask for help.

Last week, I noticed that Anubis' gait was off and thought that he may be developing hip dysplasia, so I made a veterinarian appointment for him for Thursday, March 12. A few days prior to his appointment, I also noticed that he had scabs on his nose and eye. I thought maybe one of our cats got him but then noticed that he had some scabbing in his ear as well.

At his appointment, Anubis was diagnosed with hip dysplasia. He was also diagnosed with allergies (he was licking his paws a lot) and a yeast infection in his ears. He was also given a senior blood panel because of his age, and to see if his liver was well enough for us to give him a monthly pain medication injection that would help manage the hip dysplasia. He was prescribed medications, supplements, and vitamins. We were sent home and waited for the results of the bloodwork.

The next day we got a call from the veterinarian saying that Anubis bloodwork wasn't that great. He had elevated white blood cells, elevated neutrophils, and a couple other things that showed that he may be fighting a serious infection. We continued the treatment plan we were on but needed to put money away for an Xray to see exactly what was going on. We were also told if the medication did not work, we needed to get an ultrasound to see if Anubis has an internal leakage somewhere.

Since Friday, March 13, Anubis' has been steadily going downhill. He had one good day, where I thought we were beating this. Anubis now has scabs all over his face, his ears, his back and his paws. His paw pads are hanging off. He has lost 6 pounds since Friday and had shown loss of weight at the appointment before.

We took him to back to the vet's office today to find out that he may be suffering from an autoimmune disorder, such as lupus, or possibly lymphoma. If it is an autoimmune disorder, we need to test the severity of it, which was a blood test costing $312 that we had to decline today. We did test his white blood cells again and they are thrown the roof, even higher than they were last time. Anubis has now been prescribed a different antibiotic, steroid, and a medicated shampoo.

We are now having to update the vet's office every two days. His prognosis is not great, and this is a conversation that we need to have with the kids tonight. In the meantime, there are still some tests to do before we can make a decision on the best course of treatment. Anubis needs x-rays, a biopsy, an ultrasound, the CRP test and to start his cold laser therapy for his hip dysplasia. These treatments are costly. I attached an estimate for the x-rays ($901.64 to $1,127.05). The veterinarian said that the biopsy can be between $1000 - $1500 because he needs to be sedated. The veterinarian technician tried to draw blood from Anubis front leg today, something that Anubis has never had a problem with, and his legs hurt so bad that he freaked out and tore a paw pad off (I have also attached a picture of this).

Of course, we know that this can end in a way we do not want it to and we are monitoring Anubis daily and will always do what we think is best for him. If that is the case, the costs raised will be to help with the worst case scenario.

I know this was a lot to read, but I do not like asking for help and wanted to make sure everyone knew the whole story.

Thank you for reading, thank you for helping, thank you for sharing. You are appreciated.