Willow our Aussie/Collie
Donation protected
Willow recently turned two years old on Dec. 31st 2019 and it hasn't been the year she was hoping for so far.
At the end of August 2019 we noticed a small bump on her mouth, it slowly got bigger over time - as we took her to the vet they told us it was a papilloma virus that would fall off and not to worry. Many puppies are able to pick up a papilloma virus because their immune system hasn't fully developed yet. In many cases, the virus will never show itself on your pet or it may be so small you wouldn't notice. For Willow, that hasn't been the case. She has a severe case of papilloma virus that has been going on for the past six months.
That initial one did fall off and was gone for a week before a new one appeared and doubled in size within another week. Now we are dealing with her whole mouth being covered in these masses. We took her to two vets and had to take her to see a dermatologist (which we couldn't get in to see until December) and she has been on medications for the past month. They seem to be stabilizing the virus but the biggest issue is the masses simply aren't going away.
The best, safest, and speediest option for us to help her is to get her a laser surgery at UPenn. They have a CO2 Laser that can remove these from her face at the nerve ending with minimal damage. Meaning she will not need stitches and should have a better recovery rate. At the same time, we will be able to send a few of these papillomas off to a lab to test for cancer and also have them made into a vaccine that can *hopefully* be used as a preventative for her in the future.
Willow is a very healthy dog aside from this. For whatever reason her body is just not responding to this virus well enough to combat it and push her through to get rid of these things.
We've had to soften her food as they are on the roof of her mouth and tongue, and also are just in the way for her to eat hard kibble or even chew on bones. She still has a decent energy level when we go outside but for the most part she isn't the same aussie-border collie we know to be 100% energetic 24/7.
She cannot interact with dogs AT ALL until these papillomas go away completely and that has been really hard for her and for us. She loves to play and seems to really miss seeing other dogs based on how she reacts when we see one across the street on a walk. We really are hoping to get her back to the Life she should be living!
We really feel that is her best option at getting better and hopefully getting past this virus. We both love Willow so so dearly, this is very heartbreaking for us to see her this way. She is such an energetic, fun loving pup when she can be her normal happy self. This surgery is going to be extremely expensive and we just appreciate any help at all really. We know everyone has busy lives with their own problems to tackle but if there is a chance you could help us tackle this problem with our sweet girl, we and most of all Willow, would be very grateful for your help.
Thank you
- Kristen, Brenton, Willow <3
At the end of August 2019 we noticed a small bump on her mouth, it slowly got bigger over time - as we took her to the vet they told us it was a papilloma virus that would fall off and not to worry. Many puppies are able to pick up a papilloma virus because their immune system hasn't fully developed yet. In many cases, the virus will never show itself on your pet or it may be so small you wouldn't notice. For Willow, that hasn't been the case. She has a severe case of papilloma virus that has been going on for the past six months.
That initial one did fall off and was gone for a week before a new one appeared and doubled in size within another week. Now we are dealing with her whole mouth being covered in these masses. We took her to two vets and had to take her to see a dermatologist (which we couldn't get in to see until December) and she has been on medications for the past month. They seem to be stabilizing the virus but the biggest issue is the masses simply aren't going away.
The best, safest, and speediest option for us to help her is to get her a laser surgery at UPenn. They have a CO2 Laser that can remove these from her face at the nerve ending with minimal damage. Meaning she will not need stitches and should have a better recovery rate. At the same time, we will be able to send a few of these papillomas off to a lab to test for cancer and also have them made into a vaccine that can *hopefully* be used as a preventative for her in the future.
Willow is a very healthy dog aside from this. For whatever reason her body is just not responding to this virus well enough to combat it and push her through to get rid of these things.
We've had to soften her food as they are on the roof of her mouth and tongue, and also are just in the way for her to eat hard kibble or even chew on bones. She still has a decent energy level when we go outside but for the most part she isn't the same aussie-border collie we know to be 100% energetic 24/7.
She cannot interact with dogs AT ALL until these papillomas go away completely and that has been really hard for her and for us. She loves to play and seems to really miss seeing other dogs based on how she reacts when we see one across the street on a walk. We really are hoping to get her back to the Life she should be living!
We really feel that is her best option at getting better and hopefully getting past this virus. We both love Willow so so dearly, this is very heartbreaking for us to see her this way. She is such an energetic, fun loving pup when she can be her normal happy self. This surgery is going to be extremely expensive and we just appreciate any help at all really. We know everyone has busy lives with their own problems to tackle but if there is a chance you could help us tackle this problem with our sweet girl, we and most of all Willow, would be very grateful for your help.
Thank you
- Kristen, Brenton, Willow <3
Organiser
Kristen Marie
Organiser
Lancaster, PA
