Hello and thanks for taking the time out of your day to stop by and read our story. Hopefully it inspires you to help out or share!

If you've had the pleasure of meeting Nikko, you'll know he's one hell of a loyal dog, happy-go-lucky, rambunctious and just plain lovable and sweet! He get's along so well with Genesys and my other animals and has never been aggressive towards other people or animals; he's a total love bug! In his 11 years, Nikko has never had any serious health issues or ailments, so naturally when I arrived home after work on Thursday and noticed spots of blood on my floor. I assumed that it was perhaps one of my cats (one is not yet fixed), but I noticed that Nikko was digging and chomping on his tail. When I went to take a closer look, I saw what it was he was chomping at. To my complete surprise, there underneath his skin at the base of his tail, was a mass measuring about a 3cm x 5cm. One end of the mass is pretty wide at the base and then narrows down to a rounded point down the tail, which has broken through the skin causing an open wound. I took Nikko to the Emergency Vet and after some x-rays, labs, and a fluid sampling of the mass was taken, it was confirmed that Nikko has cancer, adenocarcinoma specifically. Nikko's x-ray's also showed an enlarged prostate which gives the vet concern that the cancer may originate from the prostate (further testing needed for the Prostate). He noted that the tumor was very aggressive in nature, and likely grew to the current size in a matter of weeks. Because of it's aggressive nature, placement of the tumor on the base of the tail, and to be able to close the skin and remove as much as possible he recommended immediate amputation of his entire tail. Upon hearing this news, I was devastated. I immediately went to the worse case scenario and thought that Nikko's prognosis was going to poor. But to my surprise and utter relief, I was given hope. The vet explained that despite the cancerous tumor, he is otherwise healthy and with amputation, proper care and follow up visits/treatments, Nikko will be just fine and his quality of life shouldn't be too affected. As you can imagine, this was all so sudden and I was not prepared for this unexpected health issue. The ER vet visit drained me and so I am asking friends and family and anyone (dog lover or otherwise) if you
wouldn't mind donating to Nikko's amputation fund or sharing this with others

Despite Nikko's senior status of 11 years old (Shhh! Don't tell him he's a senior, he still thinks he's a puppy!) He is full of life and energy and has a great prognosis, so I don't want to give up on him - I love him too much to not at least try. I'd like to, albeit selfishly, continue to live a fun, exciting, never a dull moment life with Nikko - he's the last of the Mohicans after Shadow's passing just 3 years ago. If you could, from the kindness of your heart, donate to the fund (no amount is too small!) and/or share this - Nikko, Genesys, me and the rest of the gang would greatly appreciate it. Time is of the essence as we don't want this aggressive tumor to further grow in size so Nikko is scheduled to have surgery within the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for considering  us in this time of need and support and for taking the time to read (if you've made it this far, you're awesome!) Have a blessed day!!

-Leli, Genesys & Nikko & the rest of the gang