My good boy, Ruger, is in need of surgery to remove two large bumps that have been growing more and more in the last two years. We have tested these bumps every year or so since he was about 4 years old (he is now 9). We have been told, time and again, that they are lipomas and non cancerous.

I had been hesitant about surgery in the first place because, in the past, Ruger has not done well with anesthesia. First dental cleaning took a long time to wake up. A few years later, he had a strange cough, I needed to get a scan done to make sure wasn't tracheal collapse, and they tried a different form of anesthesia, leading to him having a seizure (for the first time) when waking up. So you can imagine , we wouldnt be considering surgery unless it was to benefit him for the long run, like these circumstances.

These two bumps have grown larger in size in the last two years. So finally, Banfield (where prev anesthesias were done/his vet is/where we pay monthly insurance with) recommended me a list of special surgeons that are equipped much better for surgery / anesthesia (not included in insurance of course) .

After sharing the recs online, I had multiple friends confirm Ocean State Veterinary Specialists in RI . We went last July for the first consultation, and he told me he seemed perfectly healthy and it was my preference if or when we did surgery. We came to the conclusion id come back in 6 months to re-measure the growths . And when we returned in January, he confirmed they have gotten bigger.

He is 9 years old, and happy and full of life. Goes to daycare twice a week on a horse farm with friends steadily since 6 months old. We just rescued a little brother for big guy in January too . We all want him around for as long as possible.

The older a dog is , the riskier surgery is . If it continues to grow, i could see it being the size of a watermelon by the time he is 11/12, and I have hopes good boy can live to 14/15 . I want him to be comfortable in his older years, not carrying around a melon weight on his chest , plus another on his neck </3

The surgeon told me it will be about $7000 . They will keep him overnight, and for the staffing / anesthesia / follow ups. Scratch pay will do up to 5k , and I am opening this gofundme in hopes of softening the financial blow. It is not "urgent" but I am hoping to lock in funds / sell merch to raise money by april for the surgery, and hoping to get him booked in May after I work Brimfield and can be home for his recovery

I will be making sweatshirts with my vintage business soon to help raise money as well, 100% of those profits going towards his surgery costs.

I added an extra 1k on this because ive never done one before and all ive been told is to beware of how it taxes whats raised

ANYTHING helps ! but if you cant give financially, a share will mean the world.

If you took the time to read all of this, thank you <3

Ashley