UPDATE

12/02/2025:

Stormie was doing so well with his progress as a tripod and on the road to a great recovery but things have taken a turn.

During Thanksgiving week, the day that I left to go see family, Stormie had a fall off camera (I have cameras set up in my office and living room to watch him, the bedroom camera was unfortunately broken during this) and injured his back.

I had my partner quite literally break into my apartment and check on him, Stormie was no longer using his back hind leg and was dragging himself across the floor - he was unable to put any weight on his back leg.

When I was finally able to fly home a few days later I rushed him to the emergency vet as he was now completely dragging that leg and seemingly not acknowledging it. He couldn't use the litter box so his bladder was extremely full and hadn't had a BM as far as I was aware.

He got x-rays and they emptied his bladder to give him comfort. One one hand he didn't break or fracture anything so that's good.

But on the other hand it looked like he fell and hurt his spine but they wouldn't know the extent until a possible MRI. Thankfully he has full range of motion in that leg and it isn't paralyzed (he is able to move it/react to touch) and they said an MRI is a last resort and only if he isn't progressing positively so we can look more into what could be happening.

He's on day two of cage rest at home and it's seeming more and more that he may need an MRI. While at home he hasn't held his bladder which initially I thought was a good thing... until I realized he has no idea he's peeing.

I don't know if it's due to his medication but I tried not to give him any this morning and he seemed highly uncomfortable and in a bit of pain so it was in his best interest that I gave him his dose.

He still has no signs of having a BM (there is a litter box in the cage with him that he just ignores) and, again, we don't know if it's because of the sedation of the medication and lack of movement or because he doesn't have the ability. I will be taking him to the vet for them to help clear him out just for a clean palette and optimal comfort...

But my spirits are low and my hopes for him having a recovery are minimal. So I'm preparing now for his MRI and trying to gather funds, already going through what I had resaved after his surgery (emergency vet bills are no joke).

07/24/2025:

I found out this morning, after a month of going back and forth to the vet due to a mass on Stormageddon's hind leg, that he has been diagnosed with a sarcoma and the only option I have is amputation due to the size and location.

Unfortunately, I have already spent all but $200 on my CareCredit and am unable to increase my limit. The surgery estimate given to me from my vet totals $3829.51. The little extra I'm requesting is (1) if the amount winds up being more and/or (2) to help pay off the $1.2k I've already put on my CareCredit.

Normally, I don't like asking for any help and try to pay for medical bills on my own, but I have no savings or extra funds that I could dip into in order to pay for his surgery, and my vet doesn't have payment options available to me.