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Tommy’s story – I adopted 9 year old Tommy in March of 2014 through the wonderful Senior Dog Rescue organization Muttville (Indie-2009 on their site). Tommy was surrendered at a shelter as his owner was moving and couldn’t take him. As best as we can determine, I am Tommy’s fourth owner, which breaks my heart as he is a wonderful dog. Yes, he likes to get in the garbage, and yes, he likes to decorate the house by dragging the end of the toilet paper roll around, but those are forgivable!
On our first veterinarian visit I received the news that Tommy needed surgery on his knee. The surgery is around $5,000 in the San Francisco bay area, so I arranged to make a road trip (thank you Summer!) to Park City Utah where a friend owns Pinebrook Animal Hospital (thank you Britt!) and where the base cost of the surgery was around half. Tommy rehabbed at another friend’s house in Salt Lake City (thank you Matt and Maia!) for a week and a half. Once back home we started physical therapy at Holistic Veterinary Care in Oakland where among other treatments Tommy had regular sessions in the underwater treadmill with Nicole or Dr. Whitlock. This helped build muscle and strengthen his knee. He has made a great recovery and manages long walks and stairs very well.
At Thanksgiving this year I notice a lump on his foot. I had the lump removed and a biopsy of the growth, which turned out to be a soft tissue sarcoma. After consultation with a veterinary oncologist the news is that the tumor will likely grow back, but had not yet metastasized throughout Tommy’s body. Medical options at this point are either amputation of his front leg or four weeks of daily radiation therapy to treat the tumor site. I have ruled out amputation due to his knees, with one in recovery and the other weak. Even with a discount in the treatment cost due to Tommy being a rescue dog, radiation therapy will still be $6,200-6,500. I have spent at least that much on Tommy’s medical care in the past ten months, and cannot manage this last amount in under a year. I would really love to give him a wonderful retirement in the next chapter of his live – if you are able to help any amount it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, and wet kisses from Tommy - Deborah
On our first veterinarian visit I received the news that Tommy needed surgery on his knee. The surgery is around $5,000 in the San Francisco bay area, so I arranged to make a road trip (thank you Summer!) to Park City Utah where a friend owns Pinebrook Animal Hospital (thank you Britt!) and where the base cost of the surgery was around half. Tommy rehabbed at another friend’s house in Salt Lake City (thank you Matt and Maia!) for a week and a half. Once back home we started physical therapy at Holistic Veterinary Care in Oakland where among other treatments Tommy had regular sessions in the underwater treadmill with Nicole or Dr. Whitlock. This helped build muscle and strengthen his knee. He has made a great recovery and manages long walks and stairs very well.
At Thanksgiving this year I notice a lump on his foot. I had the lump removed and a biopsy of the growth, which turned out to be a soft tissue sarcoma. After consultation with a veterinary oncologist the news is that the tumor will likely grow back, but had not yet metastasized throughout Tommy’s body. Medical options at this point are either amputation of his front leg or four weeks of daily radiation therapy to treat the tumor site. I have ruled out amputation due to his knees, with one in recovery and the other weak. Even with a discount in the treatment cost due to Tommy being a rescue dog, radiation therapy will still be $6,200-6,500. I have spent at least that much on Tommy’s medical care in the past ten months, and cannot manage this last amount in under a year. I would really love to give him a wonderful retirement in the next chapter of his live – if you are able to help any amount it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, and wet kisses from Tommy - Deborah