Canela's Eye Removal Surgery
Donation protected
On January 9th this year my husky Canela was admitted to an emergency vet clinic and was diagnosed with a fairly severe case of blastomycosis. Blastomycosis is a systemic fungal infection that dogs are extremely susceptible to, they breathe in the spores from the soil and it infects their lungs then rapidly progresses through their bodies. Canela's blasto was initially misdiagnosed and she was put on antibiotics, it only took three days for her condition to worsen to the point that she couldn't even stand and by the time the internal medicine specialist at the clinic saw her I was told we needed to be prepared because there was a significant chance she wouldn’t survive even if she was hospitalized.
She was a very strong, brave girl; the first 48 hours were the hardest, she needed oxygen and IV fluids but once they started giving her the first few doses of the antifungal we knew she was going to survive.
Unfortunately Canela lost her eyesight to the infection, she's completely blind in both eyes now. I was terrified for her when I first found out but all things considered she's navigated being blind extremely well thanks to the help of her brother and littermate. She gets three different prescription eyedrops four times a day for her eyes to help reduce the pain and keep her pressure down.
She's been taking fluconazole, a pricey antifungal, since January. We were told most dogs are cleared of the infection after three or four months on antifungals but April rolled around and after an x-ray of her lungs we found that the spore count was actually higher than when we first started. They raised her dosage since then but Canela is still sick and just yesterday skin lesions reemerged on her back leg.
Her ophthalmologist thinks that her eyes have fungal spores thriving in them that the oral antifungal medication is having difficulty getting to, we tried injecting medication into her eyeballs but at this point her best shot to overcome this disease and never risk reinfection is a complete removal of her eyes.
The surgery alone is going to be around $1900 minus aftercare and I couldn't conceivably pay for something like that till well into November and she can't wait that long. I've only barely been able to cover Canela's vet bills and medication until now by putting college on hold, living with my dad and working full time and even then my family has had to help me and I'm still paying off borrowed money from Canela's initial hospitalization. At one point I'd even considered finding her a better home because I was unsure I was going to be able to take care of her financially, but it was just too heartbreaking because Canela means everything to me and has provided so much emotional support to me through difficult times and there's no possible way I could split up two husky littermates that have such a deep bond and depend on each other the way they do.
Normally I'm the type of person who refuses to accept any kind of charity from anyone but my family just moved into a new house and the trailer we packed our belongings into was stolen so we're already in a tough place financially after the price of the deposit, rent and replacing all of the basic necessities we lost. I'm asking for help now because my dog isn't getting better and now she's getting worse. I don't want her to suffer any longer, she's been fighting this disease for seven months and she needs that surgery as soon as possible. If you're reading this and you can empathize with Canela's story I'm asking for your help, anything you can give no matter how small will be used to help her live a better life. If donations manage to exceed the cost of her treatment I'll donate them to organizations that help animals in need!
She was a very strong, brave girl; the first 48 hours were the hardest, she needed oxygen and IV fluids but once they started giving her the first few doses of the antifungal we knew she was going to survive.
Unfortunately Canela lost her eyesight to the infection, she's completely blind in both eyes now. I was terrified for her when I first found out but all things considered she's navigated being blind extremely well thanks to the help of her brother and littermate. She gets three different prescription eyedrops four times a day for her eyes to help reduce the pain and keep her pressure down.
She's been taking fluconazole, a pricey antifungal, since January. We were told most dogs are cleared of the infection after three or four months on antifungals but April rolled around and after an x-ray of her lungs we found that the spore count was actually higher than when we first started. They raised her dosage since then but Canela is still sick and just yesterday skin lesions reemerged on her back leg.
Her ophthalmologist thinks that her eyes have fungal spores thriving in them that the oral antifungal medication is having difficulty getting to, we tried injecting medication into her eyeballs but at this point her best shot to overcome this disease and never risk reinfection is a complete removal of her eyes.
The surgery alone is going to be around $1900 minus aftercare and I couldn't conceivably pay for something like that till well into November and she can't wait that long. I've only barely been able to cover Canela's vet bills and medication until now by putting college on hold, living with my dad and working full time and even then my family has had to help me and I'm still paying off borrowed money from Canela's initial hospitalization. At one point I'd even considered finding her a better home because I was unsure I was going to be able to take care of her financially, but it was just too heartbreaking because Canela means everything to me and has provided so much emotional support to me through difficult times and there's no possible way I could split up two husky littermates that have such a deep bond and depend on each other the way they do.
Normally I'm the type of person who refuses to accept any kind of charity from anyone but my family just moved into a new house and the trailer we packed our belongings into was stolen so we're already in a tough place financially after the price of the deposit, rent and replacing all of the basic necessities we lost. I'm asking for help now because my dog isn't getting better and now she's getting worse. I don't want her to suffer any longer, she's been fighting this disease for seven months and she needs that surgery as soon as possible. If you're reading this and you can empathize with Canela's story I'm asking for your help, anything you can give no matter how small will be used to help her live a better life. If donations manage to exceed the cost of her treatment I'll donate them to organizations that help animals in need!
Organizer
Phoenix Schlebecker
Organizer
Indianapolis, IN