Please help with Dodger's Cremation and Hospitalization

Hey there, My name is Tabitha and I'm putting together this fundraiser for my best friend - and my very best boy of 12 years. My dog, Dodger.

TLDR: My pup has been super healthy and loving life, until suddenly this year he became very Anemic. He was diagnosed with Non-Regenerative Anemia, and diagnostics quickly began. He went from a healthy red blood cell count of 42% in September, to last night, a severe drop to 13%. He had to stay overnight for a blood transfusion and careful monitoring.

He's done great, and his RBC is back to 20%, and currently, the prognoses is not terminal or grave. He's responding well to treatment. We have already accumulated an overwhelming amount of vet bills, with more on the way. We're trying to give him many more good years, and we so desperately don't want the only obstacle to be finances. Please help us give him this chance.

He's been with me through every part of my adult life, the best times and the worst times. He's moved with me from Texas to Georgia. He's been my rock through everything. And i've always done everything in my power to make his life wonderful and amazing. And at 17, I was a really dumb kid who didn't know the first thing about having a dog. He taught me so much. He has been so patient and forgiving, and he's given everything in his little doggy heart to me.

And Im determined to give him every chance I can. He's 12, and he has a few good years in his life ahead of him. He loves life, he's enthusiastic and excited and everything is curious and fun for him. I know he wants to pull through this.

September 2023, a large mass began growing on his chest. At the time, it was roughly the size of a quarter, and wasn't a cause for concern. A few red blood cells came up in the cytology, but ultimately nothing horrible. Our vet said to not worry about surgery unless it became a bigger issue.

September 2024, it was definitly a bigger issue. It was massive at this point. It had grown to about 5x the size it was previously, and was still growing. He had a few teeth he needed removed, and it was a good time to do the surgery. His bloodwork looked great, and so it was scheduled in.

February 24th, he came in for that surgery. He got another round of lab work to be safe, but this one didn't come back so great. He had a severe drop of Red Blood Cell counts, which put him in moderate Anemia. His Reticulates were also low, which meant his blood marrow wasn't properly replacing those lost blood cells.

He got some supplements, and a B12 injection, and we started monitoring his CBC every week. It's supposed to be between 37% and 45%. His had dropped from a good 42% in September, to 19% in February.

February 28th, he came back in to check that CBC - it was the same. Even on supplements, he wasnt getting better but he wasnt getting worse. He's just stable. So, the vet did some other diagnostics. Ultrasound of his abdomen looked great - no source of internal bleeding at all. Sent his labs out for more testing, nothing came back. Took xrays of his chest, and unfortunately, a growth was found on his lung. Everything else looked wonderful - this is when he was referred out to a specialist to figure out the cause of the Anemia, and figure out this growth. He was diagnosed with Non-Regenerative Anemia.

March 7th, he came back in for another CBC check. It had actually gone up! From 19% to 22%! He was doing okay - at this point, he had started to eat less and not be as thrilled with his supplements. It was a cause for concern, but it wasn't alarming since his CBC was on the rise.

That night, he was sleeping and suddenly the growth on his chest ruptured. He lost a bit of blood, and we immediately cleaned with diluted iodine and began routine bandaging and cleaning. He very noticeably started acting different. More lethargic, no energy to jump up like he did, no interest in food much, barely getting out of his bed at all.

March 10th, we came into the vet to have him looked over before going to the specialist, and the growth rupture was deemed Necrotic. Most of them are after rupturing. We were told to keep it clean, use peroxide to try and get off some of that necrosis, and have the specialist look at it.

March 13th, we came into BluePearl to see a specialist and figure out what to do. They decided on a better ultrasound to attempt to see the growth in his lung and gauge whether they could do an aspiration, see if they could find a source of internal bleeding, and send off bloodwork to more pathologists to see if there is some underlying cause for his Anemia since he's not bleeding anywhere.

However, his CBC came back with a significant drop, going from moderate anemia, to severe. From 22%, it had now dropped to 13%.

This was emergent, and she recommended hospitalization and a blood transfusion. This would be his first transfusion, and her hope was that it would at least put him back to 20%.

As of right now, March 14th as I type this; I have gotten an update. He took to the transfusion well, and did good overnight. His RBC went back up to 20%, and he's eating and drinking and looking much better. We're waiting on the results of the fine needle aspiration, and the bloodwork that was sent out, but things look a little more positive this morning.

At this time, we've maxed out our carecredits, and we only have a little bit left on our scratch pay. I know he needs surgery to remove the necrotic growth on his chest, and that is going to cost $4, 407 to remove(this estimate included removing the growth on his lung as well).

At the very least, I would like to pay the vet bills off that we've accumulated so theres room for more treatment. Anything else I can possibly get will be going towards his further treatment and diagnostics.

To preface - This GoFundMe is JUST for his current vet expenses. We've made the decision, that if his life looks like this for the next few years...we would rather him go peacefully and happily. We don't want him to know what struggle is. And if that is the prognosis, we'll abide by it.

But I don't want finances to be the only thing keeping him from having such a happy life. He deserves as much as I can possibly give him and more, and I so desperately want to provide him everything I can. I want to keep fighting for him because its clear he wants to enjoy life.

Please let me save him, and please let me keep him alive to live out the rest of his years. Every single donation I get is a step closer to giving him those extra years. I hope many many extra years. But I dont want him to go out painfully. If you've read this far, I appreciate that time so so much. Thank you for that.

UPDATE:

Today, about an hour after posting this GFM, I was called by Dodger's vets with some really bad news that i've been struggling to accept all day.

The mass they found in his lung was cancerous, and while they know that - they dont know if the other mass is also cancerous or where else this cancer has spread to.

The next steps would have been surgery to remove his chest mass, and surgery to remove the mass in his lungs.

Due to being severely Anemic, its debatable he would have survived those surgeries. That isn't even a guarantee that it would have helped him. Any chemo, radiation, medications or further transfusions would have been incredibly hard on him.

The doctor, and his primary vet, and our family are in agreement that the best , kindest option for him is going to be humane euthanasia.

Due to how quickly he crashed before, the vet things the safest time frame to prevent any suffering will be within this coming week.

After discussions with his vet, we have decided on the 22nd of March, at 11:30am. We get to have this final week with him to spend quality time and give him as much love and attention as we possibly can before it is his time.

We're looking into cremation and an urn, and as far as we know, we're looking at around $500 for both excluding his euthanasia. We will have a better idea of that come next week when im able to discuss it further.

For now though, i've updated the GFM with the expenses we need to pay back, and hopefully we can get somewhere with that..

The break down of costs are as follows:

The rest of the GoFundMe is to pay for GoFundMe's fees, as well as any other potential tests we know we're going to have to run, as well as the Surgery we know he needs if he's able to be stable enough.

If anything extra is received - it will be put towards my bills due this month to hopefully take a moment to grieve with my family without worrying about medication or anything.