Chance’s 3rd Chance

As some of you may know, we have recently relocated back to NY from ME and will be selling our home so that our family can be together again in one place. Last weekend, before we left for NY, I noticed that Chance looked thin to me. He’s an anxious dog and he worries when I’m not around (we had been away the weekend prior and he was with a sitter, so I thought maybe he hadn’t been eating normally). We moved everyone to my mom’s and I decided to start 3 meals a day and adding in some wet food to try and get him to gain some weight. His belly felt a little hard to me, but nothing alarming. We left for my family reunion and he spent the weekend with Mike’s parents and the other 2 dogs. Upon returning from our trip, my father in law told me he thought Chance had some sort of lump in his belly, that he hadn’t really been eating, and had been a bit mopey. I called the vet first thing this morning and they were able to squeeze us in. A couple Xrays and some bloodwork later and we’ve discovered that Chance’s spleen is extremely enlarged, he’s anemic, and he has some fluid in his chest. For a normal dog, surgery could be a quick option. For Chance, nothing is ever that easy. 4 years ago, you all helped us save his life when a pacemaker was the only thing that would keep him on this earth. We’re finding ourselves asking again - in order to determine if Chance is a candidate for surgery to remove his spleen, he has to have an entire cardiology workup to make sure that his pacemaker is functioning appropriately and that his heart can handle anesthesia. Then, they plan to aspirate the spleen to see if the mass inside of it is malignant or benign. We will have to decide whether surgery is his best option or if we will have to make another hard decision if his quality of life isn’t there. We will be traveling to Cornell Animal Hospital on July 3rd for the Cardiology appointment and hopefully the aspiration. This appointment alone will be $1000 or more before they even get to opening him up. Chance will only be 6 years old this September and has gone through so much just to be able to grow up with his siblings (human & furry). If you know me, you know that I will jump through hoops for my animals, your animals, ANY animal in need. I’m begging for help in keeping my guy around for many more years. Mike and I need him. Olivia and Luke need him. Macky boy, Chiefy, & Beans need him. He needs YOU.

Any excess funds will be donated to a nonprofit organization who needs it to continue their life-saving missions! (I haven’t decided which one, but I’ll update when I’ve chosen.)

Love,
The Walton Family