Otis "Tooty Booty"

At the beginning of January, two weeks after Otis turned 5, we found out our baby boy has cancer. A melanoma.

We noticed a small growth developing on his eyelid several months ago. Our boy is prone to skin tags, so of course we weren’t thinking it was anything more than that. But we were worried because it had been consistently growing AND it was on his eyelid. Over the course of more than 6 months, we took him to vets to tell them our concern that it had been growing and that it could make its way to his eye. We brought him to vet after vet. Four vets – FOUR VETS – who we brought him to, asking them to remove it and telling them we were worried, kept dismissing us and telling us not to worry. That it was probably nothing.

Turns out it was something. Not only was it a cancerous melanoma, but after seeing an oncologist and running all the tests, we found out that it metastasized to his lymph node. We are shocked and devastated by the news and terrified of losing our boy. We are angry at the negligence and dismissal of all the vets we saw and voiced our concern to over more than 6 months. Not only did their negligence likely cause us to not have caught Otis’s cancer before it spread, but now his insurance won’t cover the cost of his treatment.

While we are angry and devastated and scared of losing our boy, he is the most important thing to us and where we are focusing our energy. We are going to do whatever we can to give Otis the best life. The best quality of life he can have and have him with us for as long as possible. Because insurance won’t cover his treatment, we are looking at upwards of $20,000 in medical bills for him. So we are turning to our community to help.

We know that everyone’s boy is a special boy, just like ours. Brings a smile to everyone’s face, just like ours. But we're pretty sure Otis holds record for the tootiest booty.... :)

He’s a 65-pound Boxer mix who thinks he’s a lap dog and just wants to be one with everyone he meets. He’s the biggest lover. The sweetest boy. Our best bud. Our baby boy. Anything you can do to help would be more than appreciated and we have already been humbled by the outpouring of love and support for our Tooty Booty. All donations will go directly to his care. If there is anything extra, it will be donated in Otis’s name to help other animals in need.

With all our love and gratitude,

Thank you for your support.