Meet Zelda, a Great Dane with an instinctive nurturing disposition that melts your heart. She is suffering from Tethered Spinal Cord Syndrome. There is hope for recovery, but it's an expensive operation estimated upwards of $10,000. Untreated it will become progressively worse, resulting in severe pain and paralysis and finally euthanasia. The costs of investigations and failed treatments have unfortunately exhausted the available funds her owner, my niece Raven, has to help her - so we are reaching out for help to get this loving pup back to health.

At only 4 years old she has overcome hardships and beat back death multiple times. At barely 2 years old she was rescued by Fresh Start Dane Rescue (FSDR), after being used as breeding stock, starved and abandoned.

Unbeknownst to Fresh Start Dane Rescue (FSDR) and Raven, when Zelda was placed in foster care she was pregnant with her second litter, (7 adorable stowaways on board). Thankfully, she successfully birthed the puppies (all adopted out via FSDR), but faced significant life threatening complications and infections after delivery.

After recovering from a traumatic pregnancy and postpartum, her trials were still not over. Before Raven could officially adopt Zelda, she had to be spayed. Though the initial spay seemed to have gone well, the sutures ruptured as she was leaving recovery and had to be rushed into emergency surgery where she almost bled out on the table. These multiple surgeries left her with increased amounts of pain that required additional medication and support to get past.

Now adopted by Raven and recovering, it became increasingly apparent that something was still wrong. Zelda's urine and fecal incontinence was more frequent After a year of investigations through multiple vets, (including a trip to PEI for a CT and MRI), and trying different treatments, an answer was finally discovered: Tethered Spinal Cord Syndrome. This is when the spinal cord is abnormally anchored or "tethered" at the end of the spinal canal, restricting its normal movement and causing chronic stretching and injury to the nerves. The condition is progressive, and is already severely impacting Zelda's quality of life from pain, weakness and increasingly severe incontinence issues. Conservative treatment is running out. Her last hope to finally live a normal life as a healthy pet is a specialized neurosurgery to release the spinal cord.

The probability for success is high but the surgery is estimated to be between $8,000 -$10,000. After everything spent so far (see detail list spent at the end), Raven has run out of savings and is currently unable to work for additional funds due to their own battles with illness and disability.

Zelda is more than just a dog; she is a healer. Her gentle presence comforts those who are hurting, especially her owner, (who suffers from severe depression and complex post-traumatic stress disorder), as well as her human brother, who is a first responder. Prior to her deterioration, her family was looking into making her an official support animal to support other first responders around the Halifax area.

Now, Zelda’s future hangs in the balance. Her story is one of resilience, love, and hope. We’re reaching out to kind souls to help us give Zelda the gift of a pain-free life.

How You Can Help:

Your generosity can make a real difference. Please consider donating to help cover Zelda’s surgery

Break down of costs so far:

Initial Vet with x-ray (Eastern Shore Vet hospital): 411.15

Great Dane experienced vet (Complete Care Vet Clinic): 1701.66

Neurosurgeon Speciality (Maritime Veterinary Emergency and Speciality Centre): 1188.22

PEI trip hotel and incidentals: 891.06

PEI vet (Atlantic Vet College): 4918.95

Various additional Meds: 62.07

Total spent so far - $9,173.11