Many of you know my boy Malu and have been alongside us on our medical journey but for those of you who don't know this special boy, meet Malu.

 

His being alive is a miracle in itself (battled Parvo for 3 weeks at 8 weeks old and miraculously pulled through as the rest of his litter and kennel mates didn't make it). He is now 7 years old and has spent the last few years of his life helping test and socialize rescue dogs for multiple nonprofits saving the lives of dogs here in Los Angeles.

 

Asking for help is NOT easy for me but this beautiful, sweet boy deserves to no longer live in pain and be able to simply go outside and go for a walk and once again enjoy his life. I've dedicated my life to rescuing and rehabilitating so many other dogs and Malu has been a part of that journey and process and it has been incredibly painful for me knowing he is in so much pain ever day. We humbly and graciously ask you to please share his fundraising campaign and if possible help donate to his medical. My commitment to you is I will continue to give all of my resources, money and time, to rescue and rehabilitate dogs as I have to continue to make the largest impact possible.

 

To condense his elaborate medical journey... A few years ago he partially tore his ACL in his right knee, and under the care of his vet over the course of 6 months we were able to get him improved in his comfort and mobility. Towards the end of 2020 he began to decline rapidly and we could tell he was in a lot of pain in that right leg and in addition he began shifting to his right hip when he was standing and his left leg would hang strangely. He was taken in to see a highly recommended orthopedic specialist, Dr. Eric Chow, at VCA Animal Specialty and had an exam and imaging which determined he had a torn ACL in his right knee and his left hip was showing arthritis and his femur head wasn't holding securely in the socket. The plan was a TPLO surgery to his right knee, let that heal and rehabilitate that leg and build the muscle back then decide if we needed to proceed with surgery of the left hip.

 

We completed his TPLO and for the first couple months post surgery his healing was right on track and we scheduled his L hip surgery. Then suddenly he began declining back to his state pre-surgery and we thought the surgery/metal implant had failed somehow. Shortly thereafter and while we waited for our next follow up he began to develop changes to the color and texture of his nose very rapidly and the skin crusted over. We made him an appointment to see Dr. Kirby who is a Dermatologist at Animal Dermatology Clinic. We got in for our follow up with Dr. Chow and he took more X-rays to check the knee he had performed surgery on. At this point Malu had complete lameness of his right leg (even worse than pre-surgery) and was being forced to use his left leg solely which has the bad hip and was the one we were supposed to now be having surgery on.

He had inflammation and fluid in his R knee but the hardware and bone looked good. A sample of fluid was taken to test for infection which came back negative. At this point he was put on a different pain medication and he had concerns of immune mediated disease attacking his joints and began consulting with an internal medicine specialist who asked he do joint taps and take samples from his other joints for him in the interim while we wait for his next available appointment which was another month out. The joint taps came back negative. During this time he had adverse reactions to the medications and had to be rushed to emergency. He is a 90 pound dog who could barely make it outside and back in to use the bathroom. Watching him in pain everyday was one of the worst experiences, feeling helpless and not having any answers or a plan on how to make him better.

 

To condense the next sequence:

He was diagnosed with Lupus

I did a bunch of research reading medical journals on TPLO, knee implants and Lupus

We met with internists and did more testing, bloodwork and imaging to rule out other diseases which all came back clear

They finally agreed with my desire to remove his metal knee implant and screws first, and just eliminate that variable to see if that helps as once the bone is healed post TPLO the hardware is actually not necessary.

 

Plate removal was successfully performed and the plate and screws were sent for pathology and he was found to have a rare bacterial infection, put on a specific antibiotic and my boy who hadn't been able to walk for 8 months and was in excruciating pain could walk again and actually had energy and wanted to walk and play!!! He was then due to go back to address the L Hip and an FHO surgery was recommended but due to what he had just been through I had to give him a break as he finally has some quality of life back.

 

Well here we are, 9 months later and I got the courage to bring him in for his pre-op (I chose another recommended surgeon) and this surgeon told me he would absolutely NOT do an FHO, that he needed a full hip replacement and that we needed to go consult with Dr. Laurent Guiot at Access Culver who he considered the best. We waited one month for the consult which was today and a full hip replacement is necessary due to his spine and the success rate and ability to do any revisions that although rare are always possible. He was put under anesthesia and we did his pre-op xrays today and scheduled surgery for May 11th to give us a few weeks to hopefully raise the funds we need for his procedure.

 

I know this is a lot of information but because of the financial assistance I am asking for help with, I felt that full transparency was important. I've personally spent 15k in the first 15 months since doing his TPLO, we raised almost 7k which helped cover some of that debt and this surgery is going to cost 10-12k plus another $900 total for his 6 and 12 week follow up xrays that are not included in the below quote from today. I am including his quote below as well as the $656 I paid today for his pre-op xrays/visit. He has pet insurance as of last year but due to the previous orthopedic issues they will not cover any orthopedic medical care for him.  I also need to schedule a 6k full body MRI for my rescue Chance who was recently diagnosed with an embolic stroke but can't until I know I am able to cover Malu's procedure first.  

 

Thank you for take the time to hear his story and for any help you can provide. 100% of donations will go to Malu's medical treatment/care and if we raise extra we will donate it to helping another dog in need. I've included many of his invoices and am happy to provide all to anyone requesting.   First 2 are from today and the rest are from his prior completed medical.  We are so incredibly grateful and will keep you updated as his medical progresses.

 

With Love,

Naia and Malu
IG: @For_Pono