Adogo's Medical Bills

Hello. My name is Kristen and I am so lucky to be Adogo's human. 
4 years ago a friend sent me an e-mail asking if anyone would be interested in saving a Deaf Argentinian Mastiff puppy. He was a cute little guy, but his breeder wanted him to be put down, because he was Deaf. I was immediately captivated by this adorable little pup with giant paws. So, I started my research… I knew that I wanted to have children so I made sure that this breed was good with kids. I researched training a Deaf dog, and after 2 or 3 weeks I emailed her back saying I wanted to be his human!
Over the last four and a half years, Adogo has grown to be one the most gentle, kind, loving, goofy dogs I have ever known. He is very sweet with my 2 year old daughter and they love playing together. They are the best of friends. He is the best dog I have ever known.
On Halloween night, I came home from trick or treating and found Adogo limping. His back legs were wobbly and unsteady, he was panting, and his heart was racing. I took him to the emergency vet to see what was wrong. They were unsure of the cause and couldn’t define a treatment without doing thousands of dollars in testing. We went home. The next morning, he had lost all mobility in his hind legs. I cried as I watched him try to drag his back half off of the bed and out of the house. I carried my 120 pound baby boy to the car and we drove to his vet’s office. The vet there told me the same thing as the emergency vet. Thankfully, my parents had chipped in some money and I was able to do the blood work that would rule out cancer or an infection. As a single mother and college student, I don’t have much in the way of savings. When the doctor told me that an MRI and surgery would cost over $8,000 I cried. I was devastated. I thought I was going to have to put my dog to sleep, because I couldn’t afford to save his life.

I sent a text to everyone I knew that loved dogs, I needed all of the emotional support that I could get. One of them replied with an offer to loan me the money. My tears of pain turned to tears of joy. My baby boy was getting another shot at life.
I took him to the UC Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital where they performed an MRI and discovered that he had a herniated disc in his spine and he was also bleeding from his spine. They took him into surgery to remove the compression from his spine and stop the bleeding. When he woke up from anesthesia he was his normal happy self, but he still wasn’t moving his legs. After 4 days in recovery they were concerned because he still wasn’t moving his legs and his hind limb reflexes were not improving. The doctor suggested another MRI to make sure that his spine wasn’t liquefying and that there wasn’t another herniated disc or more spinal bleeding. He’s now 8 days post-surgery and improving, but has to stay at the hospital for at least 2 weeks at $120 per day.

Every morning and evening the hospital staff calls me to tell me what a delight he is to have there and what a great dog he is. I can’t wait to bring him home.

I appreciate any support that you can provide.

Thank you in advance, Kristen and Adogo