Riggins' Surgery

On the night before Thanksgiving, I had to make the decision to have Riggins go through an emergency, life-saving surgery or be put to sleep. 

Riggins had bloat, which is a condition where the stomach twists and then fills with gas, which causes breathing problems, cuts off blood flow to the heart, can lead to a stomach rupture, and cause many other things. When bloat happens, dogs only have a window of a few hours to get into surgery or else they die. 

Unfortunately, the cause of bloat is still unknown. There are things you can do to help reduce risk, which I had done, but bigger/broad chested, older dogs are unfortunately more susceptible to it. 

While I knew this was not going to be a cheap decision, I had no other choice but to go through with the surgery. Riggins is the best dog I could ask for and when I adopted him I promised to give him the best life I could, for as long as possible.

This whole process has been emotionally draining, and financially draining as well. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't like asking for help from others, but in this situation I don't feeel like I have another choice. My whole family has been incredibly supportive and is helping the best they can, but any little help we can get would be appreciated more than anyone can understand. I really appreciate you taking the time to read this whole thing, and would be forever grateful for anything you feel you can contribute. Riggins and myself are very lucky to have such a great support system with so many wonderful people in our lives.