Banjo’s Emergency Vet & Surgery Saga

To everyone that loves Banjo (aka @banjothebeagle on Instagram), the weekend of Feb 19th, 2021 was one that pet owners dread. The long version is    below, but the bottom line is, we used our entire savings to save our oldest 4 legged boy, Banjo. It was ultimately a no-brainer decision, as the awesome vets presented us a surgical plan that would almost certainly save Banjo's life. But, we are now facing a challenging financial road ahead as a result. A good month for us is making ends meet. We are now in a hole looking up. We know so many people who are facing similar hardships, and as a result we are reluctant to do this...but we were encouraged by family and friends to use the strength of community at this difficult time with the knowledge that we would do the same for others. We thank each and every person who reads this for your love and support, whether you give or not. 

The saga (by Dorsey, Banjo's mom): Our family is filled with chaos, energy, and little boys. The oldest of all is our sweet boy, Banjo, who we  adopted in 2014 from the Orange County NC Animal Shelter after the loss of our 13 yr old rockstar yellow lab, Simon. Banjo was clearly bred for hunting, yet ended up at the shelter because of his piss-poor nose. He presented us with a fierce training challenge and conquered the steep learning curve to domestic life within a few months (and thanks to Prozac). 

Banjo is 8 years old and by far the most mellow, easy-going man in our house. He loves sleeping, sunbathing, crumbs, deer poop, and rubs on his ears, between his eyes, and on his belly.

On Thurs, Feb 18, we noticed Banjo surrounded by several spots of vomit and with a very guilty face. After rushing him to our family vet, he received a nausea shot, several prescriptions, and was sent home to recover. Banjo began throwing up again shortly thereafter; it continued throughout the night and into the next day. 

Due to work schedules, we put in a call to the vet but weren’t able to take him again until 3:30pm on Fri, Feb 19th.

Side note: Feb 19th is my birthday. I had grand plans to spend a night away and alone at the Washington Duke Inn (thanks to a gift from a family friend) and hoped the Thursday visit would resolve the issue. 

Our family vet was extremely concerned, as Banjo was severely dehydrated and clearly needed on-going IV fluid care they were unable to provide over the weekend. We were then referred to VSH Veterinary Specialist Hospital to take x-rays and begin IV fluids.

Banjo stayed at VSH into the evening. The x-ray did not show a clear obstruction which meant no need for emergency surgery. VSH quoted us $2,000 - $4,000 for weekend care through Monday. The heavy decision of pet healthcare costs, our ability to pay, and Banjo’s life created neither swift nor easy decisions. We developed several motto’s over the weekend: 1) We need to know what’s wrong to know if/how we can fix it; 2) If there’s a fix, we need to fix it; 3) There will always be more money but there won’t be another Banjo. 

After calling around, we received a slightly better quote at Triangle Veterinary Referral Hospital which is also where we previously took our yellow labs, Simon & Lilly (also passed away at 13 like her brother). I transferred Banjo to the other facility around 9:30/10pm on Fri and spent the night waiting for the vet to call with an update. 

Side note #2: Due to Covid-19, pet owners aren’t allowed inside the emergency vets. I did a lot of sitting in my car that evening, using the potty in beer stores, and eating fast food for dinner.

Banjo remained stable on Saturday but was still uninterested in food. By Sunday, the vet called and was extremely concerned by Banjo’s “dumpy” behavior. He continued to regurgitate frequently, they were pulling a significant amount of fluid from his stomach, and he developed aspiration pneumonia. She strongly encouraged us to move forward with an ultrasound versus waiting until Monday (where the price would be significantly cheaper). 

We weighed our options and again decided that we were in this far, we needed to know why Banjo was suddenly sick. 

Mills & I visited Banjo shortly after his ultrasound on Sunday evening. He was shivering, extremely skinny, smelled awful from the stomach acid, and was definitely dumpy. The ultrasound showed a clear obstruction, possibly in the shape of a corn cob.

I was adamant Banjo did NOT have a corn cob inside his stomach, as he ate half of a corn cob the end of May 2020, threw up a significant    portion in late July, and later threw up a smaller piece in the fall. The corn incident freaked us out so much that we haven’t eaten corn since. There was no way he still had corn cob in his stomach! 

After finding that, yes, Banjo does have a clear obstruction, and yes it is a corn cob, and yes, it is fixable, we decided to move forward with surgery. The surgery was a success, he's on a road to recovery, and we have an ~$8000 bill. Some kind friends paid for us to have our whole house cleaned due to the awful stink and bio-hazard of his regurgitation, and we're  hoping that there might be a little more help out there. Any funds raised beyond our immediate needs will be donated to the Orange County Animal Shelter. Thank you for reading our story. We love Banjo and look forward to many more years and Instagram posts!

Love,
Dorsey, Aaron, Mills (5), Gus (2), and Max (4 in Dog years) (Banjo's family)