Kobe's ongoing fight

Hi - Carrie & Liam here, we are the proud owners of a rescue 3 year old Doberman boy.

We rescued Kobe at 6 months old, when we picked him up, it was apparent he was really underweight and a poorly puppy. Vets were originally concerned about him being so underweight and malnourished, mainly lacking in calcium from blood work. We finally got him putting on some weight, when he presented with symptoms of GDV in the middle of the night. After emergency surgery to treat GDV, he was in recover which wasn't plain sailing as his wound kept getting infected which caused an extremely young dog to be house bound for months after the surgery.

After a year of him finally being a normal dog, Kobe started limping.

So we took him to the vets to be checked out, nothing seemed untoward so we were sent on our way and told to rest. After 2 weeks of rest and no improvement on the limping he was booked in for some X-Rays which showed some abnormalities around the lower part of his back/leg.

After being referred to a specialist, Kobe was taken in for an MRI & CT to then be diagnosed with discospondylitis, he was then given 17 different tablets to be given on a daily basis, after around a month of going back and forth to the specialist.

Kobe's limping just got worse and worse even with painkillers, steroids, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics, until he couldn't weight bare on that leg whatsoever.

We then noticed a huge lump on Kobe's paw and his private parts, so I called the emergency vets, and took some advice and booked an appointment for the following day. The vet tried to take some fluid from it however it was unsuccessful and we were sent back to the specialist for further diagnosis.

Kobe was then subjected to another MRI to check the mass on his foot, and fluid removed from it to be lab tested, after a weeks wait we were told the results were inconclusive so he would need to be booked in for a biopsy on the lump.

After the biopsy 2 weeks ago, we were given the devastating news that the lab confirmed it was a Hemangiosarcoma and at best he is unlikely to live another year even if we amputate the leg.

Our vets have now referred us to an Oncologist who have called today and advised they need to complete another CT scan of Kobe's organs to see if there is anything showing on his heart, liver, spleen or lungs at the cost of £3000 to complete.

We have maxed the spend on the insurance to cover anymore scans, have already paid out what we had to cover the previous MRI/CT scans.

We are trying to do as much as we can to gain as much information as possible to see if there is any chance of saving our beautiful boy, the best thing to do that is to see an Oncologist but that doesn't come without its costs and the stress of trying to deal with it all has taken a massive toll on our family.

I cannot tell you how desperate we are and how much your help means to all 3 of us! Kobe is so young and has dealt with so much it seems so unfair to not give him the fighting chance he deserves.