Hello! Ollie is my 10-year-old but spry Pitbull that has been starting to cough when exerting energy (i.e. jumping off of furniture, doing his zoomies, etc). He is still in good spirits and has a great appetite (just like his mom), but the cough was concerning so I had x-rays taken of his chest that revealed a pulmonary mass.

Clearly, this is not something that can be taken care of at my local vet, so I reached out to the specialty hospital and received a rough estimate of $20,000. This cost covers multiple operations, including:

• CT imaging for more thorough diagnostics (i.e. placement, size, how far it is spreading)

• Thoracic surgery and/or chest tube placement (specialized surgery and removal of the mass before it gets bigger)

• ICU hospitalization (critical nursing care, medications, potential for oxygen therapy)

I want to move forward as quickly as I can before the mass gets bigger. I am a regular person that cannot pull $20,000 up front, and the vet hospital does not accept payment plans. We all know that vet visits are not cheap, but this will definitely be my biggest bill yet. As someone who used to be a part of the veterinary field, I cannot help but to try to help my dog. He is a very sweet boy.