Wrangler's Road to Recovery: Donate for Surgery

Wrangler is our 3-year-old Golden Retriever. He overflows with love and energy and will never shy away from a belly or paw rub. He's the most gentle dog we’ve ever met when it comes to our 2-year-old son. Never aggressive, always full of life.

The evening of Saturday, September 7th, our family went outside to go on our nightly golf cart ride. Wrangler is always super excited to go on these rides with us. Even though we all don't fit, he still makes room for himself. Wrangler jumped up on the seat and stepped back to jump off. When he did, his foot slipped and his leg got caught in the seat handle. He was in immediate pain, so we rushed him to Blue Pearl Hospital located here in our town. They were able to get Wrangler comfortable with an injection of pain medicine. Still not knowing exactly what we were facing, we followed up with our vet, Martinez Animal Hospital, Monday morning to have X-rays to determine whether Wrangler suffered from a fractured bone or a dislocated hip. X-rays confirmed a dislocated hip, but this facility does not have the ability to perform this type of procedure. A referral was sent to CVETS in Columbia, SC, a specialist. We made the drive up Tuesday morning with the assumption they'd be able to relocate that day, but after speaking with the vet, his X-rays showed he has a genetic disorder called hip dysplasia. This seems to be more common in larger dogs, and apparently, he would have shown physical signs of his hip deteriorating within the next few years given how active he is. After this news, the option of having the bone popped back in was off the table. More serious options were discussed: 1- shaving the top of the femur bone and letting his body take over with forming muscle and tissue around it, which is very likely to have issues in the future due to his energy level; 2- hip replacement. My heart sank. Very intense surgery for my pup. 12-week long recovery. Then he should be better than before. No doubt this would be the best decision for us, for our family's future, so Wrangler can go on runs again with dad. We agreed to move forward. More X-rays to measure prosthetics and blood work were done. Surgery is looking to be between $10-12k, on top of what we've already paid for the other three visits we've had in 4 days. If you're unable to donate financially, we completely understand. We ask for prayer to cover our family as the weeks coming will look a lot different. A recovery with little to no complications. A happy and healthy pup continuing on with his life. Patience and grace with our family when we have to miss out on certain activities.

If you've made it this far, thank you. We couldn't make it through hard times in life without those surrounding us. We love our Wrangler boy so much. Our hearts are broken with what he's going through, the pain he's experiencing. We miss him jumping up in excitement when we get home, running around the backyard, and playing fetch.

Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday September 17th.