My Dog Laika's Medical Fund

The Plea
My dog Laika has a large tumor on her left hind leg. We need to amputate the leg but I can't afford to pay for it on my own. Please help me raise $5000 to cover the surgery and make sure Laika has a long, healthy, happy life.

Her Story
I met Laika a few weeks ago at the Dane Country Humane Society and fell in love with her instantly.

How could I not?

She's an adult Border Collie mix, estimated between 5 and 7 years old. The Humane Society found her as a stray on the streets of Madison.

When they examined her, they found she had several benign abdominal tumors and a large one on her lefthind leg. She's probably had at least one litter of puppies before. Lastly, her teeth were severely worn down, meaning she'd spent a long time chewing very hard objects like rocks or metal. This kind of chewing can be a symptom of anxiety, hunger, or most of all boredom. They think she was probably chained somewhere and left on her own for extended periods with nothing to do and no one to play with.


The Humane Society spayed her and removed her abdominal tumors, but they couldn't remove the leg tumor. If I was going to adopt her, they recommended talking to a vet about the tumor right away.

I knew I needed this dog in my life. I adopted her the very next day.


The Cost
I've already spent $1,000 of my own money on X-rays,labs, and an ultrasound to make sure the tumor is benign and she's cancer-free before agreeing to the procedure. Limb amputation for a dog has a wide cost range--if it's a short and simple procedure it can go for as low as $2,200, but if it goes long and there are complications it could easily rise to $4,500 or more. Post-op follow-ups and another round of tests after the surgery to confirm she remains cancer-free and in good health will likely cost another $1,000. 

I can't afford to pay all this out of pocket, and because she had the tumor when I adopted her, I can't get pet insurance to help cover the expense. I need your help. I'm asking y'all for $5,000 to pay for the surgery and whatever follow-up care she needs. If I have any left over, I'm donating it all to the Dane County Humane Society.


The Treatment
You might be asking, why amputate? Isn't that extreme?
I thought the same thing at first. But I spoke with Laika's veterinary oncologist about it, and amputation is the safest and least painful option for her.

Our options break down like this:

*Amputate. A veterinary surgeon removes her leg. This is a relatively quick, simple, and common procedure. All the tests we've run on her indicate the tumor is benign and she's otherwise cancer-free. An analysis of the complete tumor should confirm this diagnosis. After about a week of post-op pain, she'll be able to starthopping around and getting used to life as a tripod. Because it's her back leg and dogs put most of their weight on their front legs, she'll be able to get pretty close to her former speed and range of movement in a few weeks. But don't take my word for it, ask Oats, another tripod dog. 
*Save the Leg. It might be possible to completely remove the tumor and save the leg, but this procedure is much longer, riskier, and more complicated than an amputation. Because it's sitting right where her ankle bends, we risk damaging her ankle tendons and ligaments. Worse, because of the tumor's size, we can't close the wound that same day. She'd have to spend a couple weeks with the wound open, requiring involved wound care, a lot of pain medication, and the risk of infection before we can close the wound with a tissue graft in a second procedure. After that there's still a long, painful recovery to get the leg back to how it was before the tumor, if that's even possible. 
*Do nothing. The tumor is benign and not immediately life-threatening. The "immediately" is key there--if we leave it untreated long term, it won't get better. As time goes on, the following risks get worse:
*The tumor could burst and hemorrhage, and she'd bleed to death.
*The tumor could become malignant and spread through her body, killing her. 
*The tumor could grow, becoming more painful and making it even harder for her to get around. Her quality of life would plummet.

Even right now, the tumor's already quite painful for her. She takes a pain med with every meal to keep her comfortable while resting. When she runs or jumps though, it clearly hurts her. She often has to hop just to get to trotting speed, and avoids putting weight on the leg whenever she can.

She loves to play fetch more than just about anything else (except chase squirrels). She has so much energy, and I want to make sure she can make use of it without hurting herself.

Thank you, from both of us.