Wheels for Rosco

Where do I begin, this past month and a half has been so emotional for us. Just before Thanksgiving, our 10 year old lab/mastiff Rosco started having accidents in the house. We took him to the vet, where they determined he had a severe bladder infection. After being treated for that, and still exhibiting symptoms, we went back to the vet. They ran blood tests, which came back showing he had elevated liver levels, but worse, he had diabetes. We started him on insulin right away, but noticed he was also having trouble walking, like his hind end was drunk. Then he fell when we were playing fetch, and I knew it was something more than just low blood sugar. The vets said to keep up with the insulin regiment and see how he did. He did okay for a while, albeit still wobbly at times, but since we stopped playing fetch he hadn't fallen again. Until today, January 1st, 2018. We are out of town and my mom has been with him, and she took him to the vet where they ran neurological tests on Rosco. He failed the hind end testing, and they determined that he has age-related degeneration, which will continue to progress. The only options are to either help him up and down all the time, put him down (NOT an option!), or do whatever we can to make sure he not only stays alive, but is able to thrive! We immediately looked into canine wheelchairs, and we are looking into getting a custom support device for Rosco from one of two companies. For a dog Rosco's size, a device like this will cost approximately $600-700. That expense, on top of his new diebetic needs, is a lot to handle after the amount we have spent to reach these diagnoses. We don't usually like to ask for help, but we want to do what's best for our boy and make him comfortable and happy as soon as possible. Both manufacturers we are considering will start building his support device immediately, we just have to send the dimensions.

Any support you can offer, no matter how much or how little, even if it's just a share, will be appreciated beyond measure. If we surpass the goal, any extra funds will go toward purchasing insulin, testing strips, lancets, needles and syringes, and other diabetic supplies and vet bills Rosco needs in order to stay healthy.

Thank you very much, sincerely, from Renée Safholm, Chris Azar, and especially Rosco. ❤️