Browndog Needs Some Medical Testing
Posted in: In Need of Vet Care | Comments (5)
I need help paying for tests for my 9-year old dog. Her name is Browndog. I have had her since she was 6 weeks old. Early part of Dec, 2009 she started loosing the ability to walk on her hind legs.
She has undergone tests and been seen by a neurologist, Before the neurologist examined Browndog they thought it was her knees and they were going to do surgery. We were referred to the surgeon and he said it was not her knees but her spinal cord. She has been on steroyds and pain medications.
The neurologist localized her problem to the middle of her spinal cord. Said is could be from protruding disk, degenerative problem or a mass. But to conclude the exact problem they need to do an abdominal ultrasound, thoracic raadiographs and an MRI. We have already spent our savings treating her to date. We are broke and these tests are going to cost aprox $3,000.00. We just don’t know what to do, we don’t want to put her to sleep. But do not want to see her in pain either.
If anyone has suggestion, please let us know.
Thank you in advance for any advise you may provide
Jennifer Eynon
Browndogs Veterinary info is below. All images are clickable for larger view
Handipets @ March 5, 2010
Handipets Kennel Rebuild FundRaiser
Posted in: General Pets In Need | Comments (0)
First we wish to thank Lisanne Walke of Rockin’ & Ridin’ for Autism for assisting us in this fundraiser. They created this awesome flier for us and are helping us promote this fundraiser in hopes that we can get our “Crippled Critters” into a larger, safe, private, community accepted, stockade kennel with feline containment netting.
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Misty Raine of Rockin’ & Ridin for Autism says: ” My *Burp Day* Request is to HELP fellow critters via Rockin’ & Ridin’ for Autism Non Profit 501(c)3 Charity public ID P15719 Tax Deductible Receipts Available”
If you wish to donate to a 501c3 Tax Deductible Charity raising funds for Handipets please use this link: |
Dixie Thunder of Aiken County SC helped us raise funds to build a small lumber and wire mesh kennel for our special critters. Unfortunately weather and outside animals trying to get in took it’s toll on the kennel through 2009 and the 2010 South Carolina snowstorm finally destroyed it. We are spending precious funds on temporary patchups of a collapsing kennel when what we need is to build a new one. We can’t keep patching the existing one AND buy new fence panels at the same time. This is where we need help. We can keep patching the existing damaged kennel as long as someone is willing to help us buy new fence panels. Once we have all the fence panels we need we can begin erect the new fence, tear down the remains of the old one and recycle whatever we can to finish off the new one.
We run our kennel out of pocket and with the annual Crippled Critter Benefit Events held by Dixie Thunder. This alone helps us care for the animals, providing them high quality grain/gluten free commercial foods such as
Taste of the Wild Roasted Venison and Smoked Salmon dry food,
Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance® L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets® Venison & Green Pea Canned Formula,
Honest Kitchen dehydrated raw food for cats as well as raw foods a diet known as BARF
We also use botanical and holistic care and buy items locally at Aiken County’s Herb Store
How you can help
We can accept gift cards for Superpetz as this is the only local store that sells the dry and canned foods we feed our crew. Helping us with animal food helps us put our funds toward fence panels.
We can accept gift cards for Home Depot which has the lowest price stockade fence panels in our area and they have an E-Gift card program.
We can accept gift cards for The Tractor Supply Company which has the right size wire mesh at the lowest cost in our area.
We can pick up items purchased if you wish to just purchase one or more of the items we need and let the store know Amy Hawkinson will pick up.
The Store addresses are:
Home Depot
Aiken #1117
1785 Whiskey Road
Aiken, SC 29803
(803)648-6291
Superpetz
1589 Whiskey Road
Aiken, SC 29803
803-641-1146
Tractor Supply Company
AIKEN
#724
2655 WHISKEY ROAD – AIKEN, SC 29803
(803) 648-4449
Finally we are accepting Credit/Debit/Paypal donations here:
http://www.chipin.com/contribute/id/e39514f608b80ed7
Handipets is NOT a 501c3 charity. Donations to Handipets are NOT tax deductible. If you wish to donate to a tax deductible charity please scroll back up and donate to the Rockin’ and Ridin’ fund raiser to benefit Handipets.
Handipets @ March 1, 2010
Dusty the Doberman Thanks You!
Posted in: Success Story! | Comments (11)
I received this message from Dusty’s family on March 2, 2010:
We were able to get some assistance from a Dobe organization and when we combined that with the donations that came in through Dusty’s Handipets page, it was able to hold us over until we could work out our payments with Care Credit. We had to do some major crunching but we were able to make our last payment a couple days ago.
Dusty has been doing really well and we’ve seen no new issues from the vWD. He has some new spots near his eye which are probably the same thing that was removed but the vet has said it’s not worth the risks of putting him under anesthesia to remove anything more. He also developed a new “bump” but we had an aspirate done and found out that it was just a fatty tumor – thank God!
So, all is well here and we’re just about back on track. Thanks so much for your time and help in aiding us to receive assistance for Dusty’s never-ending medical bills. And thank you too, for your support and encouragement and we dealt with everything! We truly appreciate you being the voice for us and getting Dusty’s story out there.
Dusty's Family
UPDATE!! Dusty has had his surgery but still needs help. His surgical bill must be paid on in order for him to continue to receive his follow up care and medications! Because one growth was indeed cancerous this follow up care is extremely important. The family is still dealing with past bills for his medical care and just cannot afford this newest medical need. Please continue to support Dusty so he can receive all treatment necessary to heal from this latest medical hurdle.
Dusty is a 5 year old, beautiful and loving Doberman who has been tackling battle after battle in the last few years. He came to us in the fall of 2005 when he was just over a year old. He was an energetic and goofy, big baby who loved to run around in the yard for hours and hours, chasing after his football or playing tug-of-war with his rope toy.
We enjoyed each new day with Dusty until late January of 2007 when he started having problems walking. It began with a limp that we dismissed as a muscle strain because of his high level of activity. After 2 weeks of no improvement, we began to worry when he started to hold his left hind leg up. Then came the day that he yelped in pain and we knew that he had to be seen by the vet right away. We took him to the vet in late February of 2007 and our hearts were broken when they told us he tested “strong positive” for Lyme Disease. We had him treated right away with a strong dose of Doxycycline and he was given Deramax for pain management. After about a month of treatment we slowly tried to take him off of the pain medication and his limping returned. By the end of April we decided that we did not want to continue him on Deramax because of the side effects and more tests were needed to determine why he was still having pain with his left hind leg.
On the morning of April 23rd I cried when I left him at the vet for his x-ray that day. Later that evening when we picked him up, the vet explained to us that Dusty’s x-ray showed that he has Degenerative Joint Disease. They made the assumption that the Lyme Disease progressed the degeneration of his hip bone. The grinding of these bones was causing him the great deal of pain that he was experiencing and they recommended that we start him on Adequan. Dusty received his first Adequan shot that day, his next shot 4 days later, another shot 4 days from then and 3 more shots that were each 4 days later. After that, he received a series of 8 shots that were each between 3 weeks and a month apart. Although this was still a lot of vet visits, we were happy to see that some improvement had been made. From this point forward we have been able to schedule his shots approximately 2 months apart, totaling approximately 13 shots to date (November 2009).
This expense alone has put us in a very hard spot financially but we could never stop them because we know that without them, Dusty would not be able to walk around comfortably or play with us in the yard. Each shot is approximately $45, so we have easily spent over $1200 on just his shots, which does not include the office visits, tests, x-rays, etc. which have totaled well over $700. This of course is in addition to all the regular monthly expenses that any pet owner is well aware of (food, preventative meds, yearly exams, etc.)
In the fall of 2008 we noticed that Dusty had a lump on his foot. We visited the vet and went through all of the necessary tests and treatments to determine what was causing this. We spent approximately $600 for his office visits, x-ray, ointments, antibiotics, cytology tests, etc. The vet was unable to determine what was causing this and before we were able to have it surgically removed, the bump went away.
Our most recent experience in the adventures of Dusty has been just this month. One week ago we discovered a lump on Dusty’s side. We immediately scheduled a visit with the vet. She had a hard time feeling the lump but was concerned because it did feel hard to her. They did an aspiration and sent it to the lab. While checking him, the vet noticed a mole by his eye that just recently grew there, over the last year. She expressed to us that she was concerned because she did not like the color of the mole and she suggested that we have it removed. We agreed that we would schedule the surgery when we had the funds to do so and asked for them to send us a quote. After handing over our credit card to pay for the $150 bill, we went home to wait for the Cytology results.
The next day the vet called and told us that the results showed the cells to be fat. She was fairly confident that she was able to extract the cells from the lump but did explain to us that she couldn’t be 100% certain and that there was always the possibility that she missed the lump. Because of this and the fact that the lump did feel hard to her, she recommended that we have it removed when we have the mole on his eye removed, this way we could have both biopsied. I asked her if the quote for surgery was ready and she gave me the magic number – $814!
We love Dusty beyond what words could ever explain but we just are not financially capable of paying for this new expense. We have struggled so hard just to have the means to pay for his regular expenses and all that he has required until now. With unexpected expenses totaling me than $2,600 in just the last 3 years, we have really had a difficult time affording what he needs. If we had time, we could slowly set aside the money needed for him to have this surgery but because there is a possibility that these lumps could be harmful, it would break our hearts to have to put off this surgery. We have looked into the option of using Care Credit but we would still be unable to make the necessary monthly payments.
Could you find it in your heart to help us? Any donation that you could offer would be so greatly appreciated – even $5 or $10 would make a huge difference to us and would get us one step closer to scheduling this surgery which is so important to us.
Veterinary Statement
Handipets @ November 19, 2009
Grim Will Have Her Surgery!
Posted in: Success Story! | Comments (13)
Update From Grim’s Family: We’ve received the necessary funds to get her cataract surgery. Grim will be having cataract surgery on 2/1/10. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible.
Grim is a 2-year old terrier mix at the Rock Springs, Wyoming Humane Society. She suffers from cataracts and needs sight-saving surgery. We are trying to raise the necessary funds to have the surgery performed. Many people are interested in adopting Grim until they find out about her eye condition. She desperately needs this surgery to save her sight and improve her chances of getting a forever home.
Her vet in Rock Springs is Desert View Animal Hospital,
940 Elk Street, Rock Springs, WY 82901.
Telephone (307)-362-3184
Grim’s account number at the vet is 750 – Grim
If the widget above is not showing you can donate by visiting this link: http://handipets.chipin.com/grims-surgery
Handipets @ October 30, 2009
Marty Success Story
Posted in: Success Story! | Comments (126)
I have found myself in a desperate situation with a devastating outcome if I don’t find some much needed help. My 8 week old kitten needs a life saving surgery.
My boyfriend, Brad, and I visited some mutual friends on the weekend of September 26th, 2009 in Tallahassee, FL. Once we arrived, we met one of the girl’s 11 week old kitten. He had an obviously large, solid belly and was walking uncomfortably. This girl had a full time job and left the kitten locked out of her room every day where his food, water or litter box were, all day. She works at a profitable job and never took the kitten in for a visit at the vet after she adopted him, as the shelter made her sign and promise. The second day we were there, the kitten’s anus prolapsed. If his belly full of worms wasn’t sign enough that the kitten needed to see a vet, his anus being forced out was clear enough to anyone.
The owner locked him in a cage because his “butt is gross” and right then decided that she wasn’t going to take him in to the vet because it cost too much money. She left the kitten in there and was going to leave it to die outside. I immediately called my vet hospital from back home in Chicago and all my former employees I had worked with at Petco. I’ve worked as a grooming assistant and trained service dogs for the handicapped and I know that no animal should have been living like this kitten.
The girl didn’t care about the kitten anymore, so my boyfriend and I took him home with us to Tampa, where we live and go to school. The very next day, the kitten, which we named Marty, had a vet visit. The vet let us know that this 11 week old kitten was really no more than 6 weeks old and weighed only 1 pound! The vet confirmed that Marty had a terrible case of worms, along with a horrific ear infection and a large infestation of fleas. Because his previous owner hadn’t gotten him de-wormed after she adopted him, Marty’s worms were so bad that they had forced his anus to prolapse. The diagnosis required a surgery in which he would have stitches around his anus. This surgery is usually successful, especially in young kittens, if the worms and prolapse are treated in time.
His surgery was almost $300.00, and could have been prevented had he been taken to the vet to get a simple check-up and medicine when he was adopted. My boyfriend is unemployed and a full time student and I have a part time job working 6 hour weeks, maximum, for minimum wage while being a full time student. Needless to say, we were not ready to pay for the vet visit as well as a surgery. We are both huge animal lovers, so helping Marty was not even a question for us. While having the stitches in for a week, Marty was de-wormed with a 5-day treatment and 2 other strong de-worming medicines. In between the visit to get the stitches in and out, Marty went in for 2 more vet visits, because Brad and I were so worried that he would get infections and just wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly. The day his stitches came out, everything was looking good. The next day, his anus prolapsed yet again. Another vet visit and cost later, we were told to wait two weeks to see if it would go back in. Discouraged two weeks later, the vet gave us two options: humane euthanasia or a surgery with a 100% success of never prolapsing again.
Brad and I love Marty so much. He is our child, and touches every part of our hearts. The day we saved Marty from sure death, he saved us. Marty wants nothing more than to be by people, constantly following us around the house, begging to sleep on our laps and constantly giving kisses. He is so happy yet has never known a truly happy life without pain. Marty never whines, despite the half hour sessions of cleaning and lubing his anus, consistent vet visits, stitches and having to wear an E-collar all the time so that he doesn’t lick and dry out the exposed anus. He is such a trooper and has been so strong in his very short life. To know that Marty could be a happy and not in pain after this surgery lifts up my heart and spirit. The only problem is the cost.
Brad and I can not afford the permanent surgery, which costs around $3,500.
We have already spent so much more than anyone ever should have, had it all been prevented with just one vet visit after his adoption. We are so pressed for money and trying to raise as much as we can. As college students, not many of our friends have money to donate, and neither do non-profit organizations. Everyone wants to help so bad, especially after they meet Marty, but no one can financially.
Brad and I need to make a decision soon, and while we wait for answers, Marty lives his life with a prolapsed anus, constantly wearing an E-collar and relentlessly uncomfortable and in pain. He doesn’t deserve this life of pain that he has only ever known. Marty, Brad and I would be eternally grateful if you even consider our application. This one surgery will change our entire lives and allow Marty to be a kitten. A real kitten. Marty is my entire life, and I can not and will not let him be taken from me if this one surgery can fix all of his problems.
Receiving any donation would be the best thing to happen to our family and would finally allow Marty to experience a life where there is nothing but love. Marty is too young, too loving, too undeserving of pain and most of all, too much a part of us to be anything but better and healthy. I appreciate any help you can give our family. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for even taking the time to read about Marty.
Little Marty still needs after care. He needs a special diet for a little while and must be neutered. He also needs a round of shots. This is all important to his recovery and after all this little one has been through I’m sure many of us want to make sure he has all four paws firmly on the road to health. As we know the family is a college couple and only one has a part time job. They have really worked hard putting their own funds into Marty’s extensive health care needs. If we can give them just one more boost to get past this point we can all rest knowing his young life has really just begun.
If you MUST use a credit card I will accept donations through my account on behalf of Marty and will forward them through Marty’s chip in as I did during the surgery fund raiser.
For Credit Card donations only please use this button:
Handipets @ October 29, 2009
