Oliver’s Life Saving Surgery

My dog is an 8 year old Australian Cattle dog mix named Oliver. He is my best friend. He got me through grad school, he helped me with my disability and he is the most curative force in my life. 

On Thursday morning I took Oliver to the doggy beach and he played normally, nothing crazy.

When we arrived home I noticed he was tired but chalked it up to normal exhaustion from playing. A couple hours later I could tell something wasn’t right and he was in serious pain. He wasn’t eating which has never ever happened in the 8years I’ve had him. I wasn’t able to get a vet appointment until the following day.

I took him into the vet at 3pm on Friday (4/15) thinking it was arthritis and he overdid it. Though he does have arthritis they found he had a bleed in his abdomen caused by a massive tumor on his spleen. I rushed him to the emergency vet to get an ultrasound and they immediately admitted him into the ICU.

The prognosis: the tumor is isolated as far as they can tell, which is great news. However, there’s no way to tell if it’s cancerous unless they remove it. He’s at big risk for another bleed which could cause him to hemorrhage so the surgery is happening today (4/16) as soon as possible. If the tumor is cancerous his chances are bleak and I could have anywhere from 1-6 months left with him. If it’s not cancerous, the surgery will be curative. Regardless, he’s in good spirits (according to the drs) and doesn’t really know anything is wrong. The prognosis isn’t good right now but I want to give him as much time as I can. 

I’m a teacher and I don’t make nearly enough to cover the surgery. The down payment for emergency surgery and ICU admittance was 9k and the rest will be another 5k+ Anything anyone can do would make a world of difference to my baby.