The Kenai Riverdog’s Medical Costs

In early February, I took Porter to the Soldotna Animal Hospital for a suspected ear infection. They suggested that at his age he also should have some standard blood tests done. Those tests came back a couple of days later and showed concerning calcium levels. After several other tests, Dr. Hermansen (she’s one of my favorite vets and is very caring towards her patients) figured out that Porter had a parathyroid tumor. Oddly enough, this was the best case scenario for what could be wrong with him due to his high levels. I was not willing to put Porter through many more tests if it was any other type of cancer, let alone through chemo at his age. Dr. Hermansen told me that she had an older dog who had the same issue and after surgery it bounced back pretty quickly and lived out a good life for another couple of years. I was not willing to put Porter through something if it would take away from his quality of life. From what I am told, he can still have quality of life after this surgery if all goes well.


 I am going to proceed with the removal of the tumor despite the high costs. Although Porter is old, he is still very active and I have high hopes he has many good days ahead of him. The summer hiking season right around the corner and he is still doing about 2-4 miles of hiking most days. This dog has been by my side since I found him at a shelter in Brunswick Georgia in 2009. Since bringing him to Alaska, he has lived in shacks, sheds and the back of my truck with me. He has gotten me through a pregnancy riddled with depression and has been a loyal companion and big brother to Eva through it all. It would be really hard to just give up on him at this point, and I owe it to him to try to give him another good year or two.


I have already dropped three thousand dollars into the tests, vet visits and infusions to lower his calcium. I received the estimate yesterday for the surgery, and it is just over five thousand dollars. This all comes after a financially hard spring after two years of slow business, along the expenses that come with single motherhood. Regardless of the financial help I receive, i will still proceed, but if Porter has somehow touched your life, and if you have a couple of extra dollars to spare, any help would be greatly appreciated.