Main fundraiser photo

Draco Needs Help..

Donation protected
(4/7/24) Hi My name is Kelsey Hayes. I am a military spouse and my husband and I have 2 amazing fur babies named Lane and Draco, and they are our whole life.



This morning my husband and I were about to head out on a trip to see our family when we noticed our 4 year old French Bulldog, Draco, was acting strange. At first he was just lethargic and not really eating, and even stranger was his lack of enthusiasm about his walk today, it was all very unlike him.




We had switched his food recently and thought that could be the reason he was feeling unwell, but when his legs started to drag behind him without correcting we knew that this couldn't be just a stomach ache. We rushed him over to the ER and that's when he started to progressively get worse. The vet said that we had gotten him there just in time, if we had waited any longer he would've been paralyzed. By the time we had arrived he was already not using his back legs anymore. After x-rays the doctor suspected that he had a herniated disk, although he needed an MRI to be certain. The doctor told us that he needed to be admitted overnight, and he'd have an MRI with the neurologist in the morning. Thankfully, his blood tests came back fine, however his mobility is gone at this point, so surgery is going to probably have to be the next step.


I am making this post as a cry for help. Toby and I will be doing this regardless because Little Man is family and we will do what it takes to give him the best life, and if that means we have to make adjustments to our lives, like, eating nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and ramen, then that's what we'll do.

(This is Little Man in the vet just before we had to give him up for his overnight stay..)

But the truth is that this is already a very hard time financially for us and without help I'm not sure we'll be able to afford care after his surgery, or even recover from paying for his surgery. Toby and I are asking for help with his medical bills (overnight stays, MRI, XRAY, blood taken, surgery, etc.) and physical therapy.
I know its a long shot. But doing nothing is not an option. I have to save him, he is family.
Anything helps!
Thank you.



Hey everyone, Toby here. I just wanted to take a second to talk about Little Man. Draco is a sweet little boy who likes to show his personality. He is so quick to trust anyone who comes through our door, he cares more about getting belly rubs from strangers than he does protecting the house. He makes the silliest faces and sounds, and he snores like an absolute freight train at night right in my ear(that took a while to get used to). He is a bundle of joy and always so full of energy. Only a week ago he was running back and forth around the house chasing his toy after I'd throw it to him. He enjoys his daily walks, except sometimes after the snow cause he gets cold pretty easy. That's why it was so surprising to us when he developed these symptoms, to be honest I really didn't even believe the vets at first. He went from totally active to not being able to walk, it just doesn't make much sense. However, here we are. So we will do what we need to do, but we could really use some help. Thanks everyone.


(4/8/24) UPDATE: Draco does need surgery. The morning of 9 Aril he'll be having the procedure. Doctors have assured us he has a 95% chance of returning to normal movement afterwards. He will have a long road to recovery, including around 8 weeks in his crate (which luckily, he is already crate trained and very comfortable in his crate) with his only permitted movement being outside for potty breaks, and even then, we will most likely have to carry him back and forth.
We are still asking for all the help you can provide so we can recover from the costs of his surgery, and most importantly so we can give him good quality of life by providing him the best physical therapy and medications. Thank you.

(4/9/24) UPDATE: Draco is out of surgery and doing well! He actually was already trying to walk around and active after his surgery (under close supervision from the vets of course). He is now being given some pain meds so he can rest for the rest of the day and get some good sleep. He will most likely spend a couple days at the hospital before he is back home.

We are so thankful for the amount of donations, we cannot believe how much support we've seen, huge thank you to you all! Seriously thank you so much.

(Here is a picture of bubba after he woke up from anesthesia)

Donate

Donations 

  • Karen Moore
    • $100
    • 10 mos
  • Carmon Jones
    • $1,000
    • 10 mos
  • Shannon Maloney
    • $60
    • 10 mos
  • Avery Haake
    • $50
    • 10 mos
  • Michele Grant
    • $200
    • 10 mos
Donate

Organizer

Kelsey Hayes
Organizer
Colorado Springs, CO

Your easy, powerful, and trusted home for help

  • Easy

    Donate quickly and easily

  • Powerful

    Send help right to the people and causes you care about

  • Trusted

    Your donation is protected by the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee