Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for being here and reading about Moscato.

My name is Ellen, and my sweet boy is Moscato. Moscato is a collie-greyhound-husky. He was born in August 2016, and for the first few years of his life he lived with my good friend Jesse. I loved to visit Moscato and I daydreamed of dog-napping him one day, because I loved him so much. In 2021, Jesse had to rehome Moscato, and I immediately jumped at the chance to take care of him. He has lived with me and my husband, Geoff, since March 2021.

Moscato really takes after his name—he's sweet like the wine. Everybody who meets him says that he has soulful eyes and a sweet, gentle temperament. Even friends who aren't dog people fall in love with Moscato. To quote the official paperwork from the vet: "he is such a lovely boy!"

Unfortunately, Moscato had a health scare on July 26, 2025. That morning, he was drinking excessively, he wouldn't touch his breakfast, and he was lethargic. This is not a dog who turns down food, and in the morning he is usually full of beans and wants to play or have a good morning snuggle. Instead, he plopped down on the living room floor and refused to move. I knew immediately that something wasn't right, and I rushed him to the 24/7 vet hospital.

The vet recommended blood work and a urinalysis as the first steps to figuring out what was wrong. To do a urinalysis, the vet used an ultrasound to find the bladder to extract urine. While she was using the ultrasound, she noticed a large amount of free fluid in Moscato's abdomen. When she drew a sample of that fluid, it was almost pure blood. Moscato had a tumor on his spleen that was actively bleeding into his abdomen. This explains why he was drinking excessively, as he was severely dehydrated and very close to being life-threateningly anemic.

At that point, the vet recommended a CT scan to determine if the tumor had metastasized anywhere else in his body, and then a splenectomy to remove the spleen and the tumor. Thankfully, the CT scan showed no metastasis—the tumor was localized to the spleen. They then went ahead with the emergency splenectomy and found that his tumor had already ruptured. If he hadn't gone into surgery when he did, he would have bled out and not made it through the night.

The good news is that surgery went well. He tolerated the anesthesia extremely well, and he's been eating and walking on his own. We were able to bring him home in the afternoon on July 28, and he's now resting and recovering at home.

CT scans and emergency surgery for animals is very expensive. When Moscato was younger, we had him on pet insurance that would have paid for the surgery. However, when we moved to a new city, the insurance company wanted to triple our monthly premium for exactly the same coverage and deductible. On my PhD student income, we couldn't afford the tripled cost and we, unfortunately, had to take him off of the plan. So now I have to ask for your help to pay for Moscato's life-saving surgery.

We had to pay a large deposit prior to his care and then pay the remaining amount when we picked him up. I maxed-out my credit card to pay a portion, and my in-laws generously loaned us the money for the rest of the cost. I am hoping to raise money to repay that loan first, and then pay off my portion if possible. Any little bit helps to ease the financial burden of this emergency care, and I am grateful for every penny we may receive on Moscato's behalf.

If, by some miracle, we raise more than our goal, I will find a way to donate the excess to another pet's emergency surgery at the same hospital where Moscato received such excellent care.

The total amount for his consultation, CT scan, surgery, and meds at the emergency hospital was $13,206.59.

Update: He had one post-op appointment on July 31 for blood tests and to check that his incision is healing well. All good news! His vitals were good, his incision looks good, and his blood work came back as expected (some abnormalities, but in expected ways after such a huge surgery). We should find out within a week if his tumor was benign or malignant.

Update: The tumor was benign! I'm still waiting on the official, final results, as they are testing more samples to ensure there aren't any cancerous cells hiding anywhere in his spleen. The initial, primary results are that it was benign. As long as everything comes back benign, the surgery was curative. Very good news!

He has one more post-op appointment scheduled for August 11 to get his staples removed. I don't have an exact cost for that appointment yet, but I anticipate it will be $300–400.

Hospital care: $13,206.59

Post-op appointment July 31: $309.84

Post-op appointment August 11: $300–400

Surgical recovery onesie: $50

Puppy pee pads: $40

Total estimated cost: $13,906.43–$14,006.43

(All amounts in Canadian dollars.)

Thank you so much for reading. I understand that times are tough for everyone right now, so please do not donate if you cannot afford to do so. We deeply appreciate every donation and every link share. Moscato sends his love and many, many puppy kisses.