UPDATE as of 5/5/23:

Marley is cleared of having bone cancer! He for sure has bilateral hip dysplasia and arthritis, but the specialist said he would be okay to get the total hip replacement. We're moving forward with getting him that as soon as we raise enough.

They gave us the recommendation of MedVet in Columbus, OH to do the surgery as this is a regular surgery they do. Quoted at about $8k, I won't change the goal yet as we are saving on our own outside of gofundme.

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Hello!

Thank you for taking a look at this page as it truly means the world to us.

To start, I'm hoping to receive help in Marley's vet care and surgery for a total hip replacement.

How we got Marley:

Marley came into our lives in 2019 when I rescued him out of someone's backyard after having been abandoned there after they moved. It was 90°F in June and he had already been outside for a month before I had met him. When I went to see him it was just to "meet him," but in the back of my head, I knew I was going to take him home regardless.

Parking in front of the house, I saw this golden dog sitting at the fence with his big goofy smile and wagging his tail. I approached and the neighbor came out to explain his original owners left him here when they moved, but would come back occasionally to feed him though it had been a while since they had returned.

Despite being hot and hurting, Marley was still happily smiling and so glad to have company.

I knew he was coming home with me. I got him leashed up and in my car, where he promptly stunk up everything. He reeked and I was not going to take him home smelling that bad. I brought him to where Austin, my partner, worked and had him get a bath (which only partially fixed the smell). We discovered through blow drying him that he had burns on his neck due to the metal collar he had on and the heat.

Bringing him home, we discovered he was the most perfect dog. His previous owners clearly had put in a lot of work into him as he knew a variety of commands and wouldn't even jump on furniture without permission.

Marley came into my life when I was at an extreme low and I'd like to say that he quite literally saved my life. I have never before met a dog that was so empathetic to my emotions and so willing to love everyone and everything.

The current situation regarding his health:

We noticed Marley beginning to limp on his left hind leg and my first though was potentially an ACL tear as my parent's dog had gone through that. We took him to the vet and they said it could be a slight tear and through rest and medication, it could improve as he was still applying weight to the leg. We went that route. He was doing well, but the limp kept growing so we returned him back to the vet.

The vet wanted to do sedated x-rays ($559 w/ additional vaccinations we had done as well) which we agreed to do.

Thursday (4/20/23) he went in for his x-ray and comes home incredibly high, but he was happy to be home. The vet gives me a call in the afternoon after having a chance to review his x-ray and doesn't have the most amazing news.

She had determined he had hip dysplasia in both his hind legs, but also brought up that there was a potential lucid part in his femur that could indicate a bone cancer. She would want him back in in 4-6 weeks in order to see if it had progressed. She stated a large dog of his size likely would struggle if we chose to amputate that leg and have him be a tripod, but he does still have hip dysplasia in the other leg which would make it more difficult.

My world truly felt like it had shattered hearing that. Cancer is something you never want to be told, human or pet. I wondered why it would happen to him, the dog I felt could do no wrong and didn't deserve additional hardships.

A second opinion from a vet who reviewed his x-ray thinks that lucid portion could have been a shadow that would make it appear that way, which is what we can only hope for as that would mean bone cancer is out if the picture. He did confirm Marley does have hip dysplasia in both of his hips.

A radiologist will also be reviewing his x-rays and we should know their opinion on that here in a few days.

The cost portion:

This is the hardest part of everything with Marley. The cost of all of this. If love could pay for this, we'd be millionaires.

I have Care Credit, but it has been maxed out on these vet visits.

With what we know currently, the cost of a total hip replacement is anywhere between $6k to $10k. The nearest place to us that would do this kind of surgery would be MedVet in Columbus, Ohio where he could get it and would have to spend the night there and potentially a few days or so.

If it is determined to be bone cancer, we want to use what is donated to providing him what he needs to remain comfortable until the end.

Any suggestions towards helping Marley would be wonderful.

We love Marley so much and we want to be able to do everything we can to help him. He deserves a chance.