Please help us get Rocky up on his feet again.

Hey, my name is Noel. I don’t know where to start so from the beginning it is. This little doggy came into my life when I needed him the most. Even though he never was certified as a service dog nor as emotional support he was both to me. In an instant, once I stared at him through the glass door of that shelter I knew he was the one and so did he. He was 1 years old at the time, full of energy he and I played in the playground inside the facility and I started to beg my father for him. Having gone in there just to look at dogs we ended up signing off ownership. Now 9 years later he’s been by my side day in and out.

Rocky has always been a healthy dog, every vet visit he’s results came back great. To this day his results are still well. However, all the walks and jumps over the years lead us to this point now.

Sunday march 5th, rocky got up as he usually does and we went for a walk. He handled his business like usual and we came back inside. It was time to head out and rocky jumped down from the couch, the first whine comes out as soon as his front paws hit the floor. We quickly raise him and check his paws and nothing looks out of the ordinary except since he does have long veins in his nails his nails are always longer than most dogs. We went ahead and trimmed his nail and once we finish he jumps off again and that’s where things took a turn for the worst.

His neck stayed low and the midsection of his back stayed crooked to the right side. We have never seen this face of hurt in this pup. He was in pain and he was showing it. We searched for the nearest veterinarian open on a sunday and headed straight there. Rocky was shaking and panting with no sign of stopping.

The vet went ahead and did a physical and recommended getting blood and an X-ray done. Unfortunately, the bill was too high for us since we did come in as an “emergency” and we decided to take the medications and wait till the following morning to take Rocky to his main veterinary PetZone.

Monday, March 6, 2023

This has been the hardest most nerve-racking day of my life. Still having no clue what was happening to our baby we get to PetZone. Doctor Carlos does his physical check on rocky and urgently suggests X-rays to be performed.

Once the images were processed Dr. Carlos called me over and went over his finding. He said, “ Rocky needs to go to a neurologist immediately I don’t like what I’m seeing and unfortunately I cannot do anything on my end.” He also gave me a few suggestions. Moving forward all you can do are these 3 things :

•Continue medication

•Strict movement restrictions

•Pray

This was an arrow straight to our hearts.

Rushing out of the vet and heading to Southeast Veterinary Neurology. Where the first breakdown happened. Just thoughts and memories rushing through our heads thinking about all the times he was cuddling, running, sunbathing, playing, barking and simply just being a happy, healthy and loving dog. Being at risk after simply jumping off the sofa.

Once we arrived at Southeast Veterinary Neurology we quickly got checked in and waited for Dr. Wong and Dr. Conte's diagnostics. Dr. Conte was the first to come in and share his findings and he took his time and explain what was going on with Rocky’s neck.

Rocky has suffered what’s listed below

Dr. Conte explained to us what our 2 options are.

1. Medicate Rocky with Prednisone as well as the previous medication (given to us by Kendall Animal Hospital) Methocarbamol 500mg tablets, and Gabapentin 50 mg/mL.

• Have him on an extreme Movement restriction where he will be in a crate for 23 out of the 24 hours of the day with only 1 hour for bathroom breaks. For weeks maybe months until medication improves the condition.

2. MRI and Surgery.

•Having a greater percentage of my dog getting back to normal this is the best option. This surgery has a 95-98% success rate in having rocky happy and healthy again. Yet it still has the same Extreme movement restrictions for the same period of time.

The surgery has a $10k-$12k cost. That’s why I am creating this fundraiser. We don’t have this type of fund available currently. Anything helps. I appreciate everything and everyone who can help us get my dog back. All donations will be directly utilized for my dog and if there is any extra fund I will be repaying the favor to someone else battling another situation.

It breaks me to see him sitting in a crate and cannot move without my assistance.

He is everything to me. My closest and dearest friend. I’ll do anything to get him to how he once was.