Buddy's Road to Recovery

Hi there,

We are Phil and Ashley, Mom and Dad to Buddy, our very special boy. Buddy is a 3-year-old German Shepherd whom we've raised from a pup. He is the most gentle soul, especially with our three rambunctious boys and two other young dogs. Buddy is a happy, active, and otherwise healthy dog.

On Friday, we took Buddy and our other two dogs to run around at the dog park. He went swimming in the river to cool down, and we brought him home. Soon after, an otherwise healthy and happy Buddy started vomiting. At first, we assumed he may have contracted a parasite from the river but continued to monitor his condition. His condition got worse and fast.

Buddy continued to vomit what looked like foam. He wasn't able to keep down any fluids or food at all. He could not get comfortable, and his tummy grew to the size of a basketball and was very hard. We immediately brought him to an emergency animal hospital in Prescott, where he was x-rayed and diagnosed with GDV, a rapidly progressive life-threatening condition in dogs that leads to a dilation of the stomach causing it to twist, creating a blockage in the blood supply to the spleen and stomach.

We were given two options: Buddy had to have emergency surgery, which could cost between $8,000 to $10,000, or we had to euthanize him.

We were in complete shock. How could our perfectly healthy and happy boy go from being completely fine that morning to having a life-threatening emergency? We were preparing our children for the worst as we just didn't know how we could afford such an expensive procedure and were given low odds for his survival.

It came down to the final moments, and we just couldn't bear the thought of losing our boy at such a young age. We decided that if Buddy was ready to go, it was going to be his decision, but we at least had to give him that fighting chance.

Buddy was rushed to VCA in Ottawa, where we met with the surgeon. She was optimistic as he was just a young pup but told us that there were significant risks with surgery and that many dogs would either not survive the surgery or have complications afterwards. We had to put our trust in Buddy that he was not ready to leave us.

We got a phone call at around 3:00 a.m. telling us that Buddy had made it through surgery and was in recovery. We caught the GDV quick enough that he didn't have damage to his internal organs; however, his liver enzymes were elevated due to built-up toxins.

Buddy's health continued to improve over the next few days, and we were able to take our boy home on Sunday afternoon. His liver enzymes are still elevated, and he will need routine blood work to monitor his liver and medication to manage his pain over the next two weeks.

We know it is a huge ask to support our dog, but if you feel compelled to help our boy Buddy, we would be so ever grateful. If not, we ask that you please share Buddy's story and pray for his healing and recovery.

We don't know what the future holds for Buddy, but we will keep everyone updated as to his progress and continue to pray for a full recovery.

We thank everyone for your support, love and prayers.

Sincerely,

Phil, Ashley and Family xo