Help Diesel Walk Again

Hello Family, Friends and Supporters

For those who don't know my name is Cayla, Diesel is what I like to call my (not registered) service animal or "my happiness all in one pup". I got Diesel when he was 6 months old, I was 20 years old going through a lot of health issues and used all my savings to get him. Diesel is a very special pup who brings joy to anyone to meets him, and fully saved my life. He is now a young 4 year old American Bulldog, who has a 2 year old sister named Copper, who he loves to run around with. Diesel is a very active, energetic, full of life dog. I rent a basement apartment with Diesel, we have a backyard for him to run around, and he loves going to the nearby field with me to play and run.

January 27th Diesel went out to play at the field with his sister, a normal weekend activity. Diesel seemed perfectly fine the whole time at the park, once he got home he stopped using his left hind leg. That day I got Diesel to rest as much as possible, and I did Ice treatment 15min on 15min off for about an hour then hour rest cycle 3x. Diesels vets was closed on Sundays, I called his vets Monday morning and we went in to see them Monday evening. Monday, Diesel was limping but was still using the leg. The vet assessed Diesel and said the symptoms displayed possibly aligned with a dog who has a cruciate ligament tear, she told me to keep his activity to as much of a minimum as possible, no walks, no stairs, no/limited playing. She said to do that for a week, with him on daily anti-inflammatory medication (metacam) and to see how he's doing after that, she suggested x-rays if he's still showing signs of pain after a week. She gave him an injection of Meloxicam for pain management. (We opted out of the daily pain medication and just the anti-inflammatory, the vet and myself didn't feel he was in so much discomfort that he needed both).

We did a week of 24/7 watch and rest for Diesel, this impacted my work schedule and my boyfriends, but we needed to make sure he was resting as much as possible for him to have the best possibility to heal. We lifted him up and down the stairs when he need to go potty, put blankets down everywhere there weren't carpets, made anything he normally jumped on inaccessible. After a week he was seeming a lot better, it was hard to get him to do any resting at all. I forced him to do another week of rest and took him off the anti-inflammatory medication.

Sunday Feb 10th (two weeks after initial injury) we woke up to a bunch of snow, Diesel was let out to go potty. Since he was feeling better, after he went #2 he went to have what we call beans and tried to jump a snow bank on the side of the shed, instead of the perfectly shovelled wide area he had that created the snow pile. When he landed he skidded out and then completely stopped using his left hind leg. Holding it up close to his body. I called the vets when they opened Monday morning and booked him an x-ray appointment and got a fill of Gabapentin the pain management medication.

Wednesday, Feb 12th Diesel went in for his X-rays. He was diagnosed with a full cruciate ligament rupture, this is the same condition as an ACL tear that athletes can experience. Cruciate ruptures are quite common in large breed dogs and can occur due to a misstep/trauma while being active. Unfortunately, without intervention (surgery), the instability of the knee will cause accelerated arthritis which can be debilitating and painful. The result is damaged cartilage and wear between the bone/development of bone spurs. Eventually there is reduced joint motion and loss of muscle mass in the affected limb. It's important to note that it is very common for dogs to rupture the cruciate ligament in their other hindlimb within 1 year of the first injury. Diesels X-rays are showing that there is mild joint effusion (fluid buildup) present in the opposite knee which may mean that his other ligament is at an increased risk due to the additional weight it must bear when he's using 3 instead of 4 legs to get around.

This cannot be fixed this without surgery. Diesels breed is known to live up to 10-14years, he is an extremely young dog who has the possibility of a long healthy and happy life.

Diesel is on daily pain and anti-inflammatory medication, he’s walking on 3 legs and the longer he does this the more likely it is that this is going to happen to his other leg. Diesel is on 24/7 watch, he cannot run, jump or play. Diesel is a young otherwise healthy pup who has changed every second of my life having him apart of it. Diesel has a long life to live and I’m asking for any help to make this surgery possible for him so he can continue loving every second of life.

His bills have already climbed to $2,500, from all the medication and x-rays. The average quote I am getting for his surgery is $5,000-7,000. I am pleading for absolutely any help you are able to give. Diesel has changed my life in so many ways and I can't keep seeing him in this much pain and lack of life.

If you are able to put anything forwards, just know you are putting it towards someone who will be eternally grateful for your help and support. I know there's many other fundraisers out there and I appreciate you chose to help us.

Anything helps. No amount is a small amount. Thank you for everything.