Oliver the Golden Retriever Surgery & Vet Bills

Hello all! My name is Emily, and my dog Oliver is a 7 year old full bred golden retriever, born April 5th, 2015 (he was an Easter baby!) I got him when I was 17 years old, and raised him myself since he was only 6 and a half weeks old. Ollie has been an Instagram star since before I even took him home. His Instagram name is @goldcoastollie. He’s been sponsored by brands like Purina, Pupbox, Stella & Chewys, Away Luggage, and many other brands and has reached up to 13 million views on one of his viral videos. On top of having 45,000 followers on Instagram, he has also been a registered Emotional Support Animal for me, and has supported me over the years with my struggle with anxiety, depression and PTSD. He even moved to Arizona with me while I attended Arizona State University and he lived in my dorm with me for a semester as my ESA. He is even a Father to 6 beautiful Golden babies, as well as a grandfather to even more! He is my baby boy, my best friend, and he’s had my back even when I’ve felt most alone. He’s helped keep me going even on my hardest days. And it’s come to a time that he needs me.

In March 2022, right before his 7th birthday, Ollie started showing symptoms of something being wrong. He started keeping his tail tucked under him, wouldn’t wag his tail anymore, and started struggling standing up and lying down. His energy levels were significantly different and I knew something wasn’t right, that he wasn’t being himself. After 2 different vet visits, different tests and X-rays, the doctor sent his X-rays over to a specialty veterinarian, in which case the Vet found a lesion/mass on his rib cage. Due to this, I was sent over to an oncology specialist for him for more testing to find out exactly what this lesion/mass is.

X-rays were only able to show the lesion on his side but not much more. The specialist needs to do many more tests including putting him under anesthesia to do a CT scan and a biopsy of the lesion on his rib cage. X-rays don’t allow insight into the spinal cord, so a CT scan is necessary to see if there is anymore lesions or masses within his spine, and at that point will help us figure out exactly what is going on and how we can move forward into helping Ollie live his life as healthy and as long as possible.

I am creating this GoFundMe due to the fact that I am a 23 year old who works in the service industry and as we all know, vet bills are extremely expensive and add up quickly. Especially when you get into the specialist and intensive testing, the thousands add up fast. So far just for one appointment to do a CT scan, bloodwork, anesthesia and a biopsy I’m being quoted at $4,000. And that is before we even know what is truly going on and what next steps we will need to take. That could range anywhere from surgery to remove the mass or even chemotherapy (which is worst case scenario, but I have to prepare for all possibilities.)

It’s hard reaching out and asking for help from friends, family and even strangers, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to put everything aside to help get the best care for my baby. He has brought SO much joy to so many peoples lives and I’m willing to do whatever i can to keep his love and joy in this world for longer. He’s still a happy, smiling, loving boy even when he isn’t feeling his best.

The smallest donation would help tremendously towards his vet bills, and if you can’t donate, a simple share would help so much. I appreciate all that my friends and family have done for me and Ollie over the years and how much love he has been shown even by strangers. He’s had 45,000+ people admire him since he was a baby and I will always and forever be grateful for that. I will post active updates on my Facebook for friends and family, and I will also post on his Instagram (@goldcoastollie) for those who aren’t my friend on Facebook, so everyone can follow along this tough journey. It may be hard but Ollie is the strongest, most loving dog I could’ve ever been blessed with. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, we can get as much as possible right now. Thank you ❤️