Help Buster keep fighting!

Thank you for helping Buster dog! My mom (Bobi Kelley) and I (Hailey Kelley) rescued Buster dog and his brother Chuka from a neglectful situation in September 2024. Neither had seen a vet and both have since needed and had major surgery.

Chuka, a 6 month old pup, had been run over at 4 months old and his broken leg was never addressed and healed wrong. Chuka had to have his leg re-broken in 2 places and a plate and screws put in. Chuka's surgery was a huge success and Chuka is running like the pup he should be.

Buster is still fighting.

You see, as a result of being allowed to chase (and apparently catch) fireworks when the kids did them, Buster was rendered blind in both eyes and had severe trauma to his snout. Buster is also a distemper survivor. If you read about everything dogs go through with distemper, you will know he is a fighter. Like Chuka's leg, none of this was ever treated. Buster fought all alone.

Since we have had Buster, he had to have all but 2 of his teeth removed, and the floating broken bone removed from his snout. Unfortunately, his hard palate between his mouth and sinus did not heal well and he has 4 large holes between his mouth and nose. When he eats or drinks, food or water gets up into his sinuses and he is at risk for sinus infection and/or aspiration pneumonia. He has had 2 sinus infections since his surgery in October. We were under the impression that due to the continuous jaw tick he has from his distemper-related neurological issues, even if we repaired the palate again, it was unlikely to heal right. But we are not ready to give up on Buster!

Now there is hope! Texas A&M is doing research using BOTOX injections on distemper survivors to stop their ticks! If it works, the A&M vet is confident Buster can have a full recovery when we repair the palate! We want Buster to be able to eat and drink without concern he may inhale his food and water into his lungs. He's only 5 years old and this sweet, loving pup deserves a long, happy, HEALTHY life! We know the BOTOX will work and we can keep him healthy.

Unfortunately, we are tapped. It has been over $6000 in surgery and follow-up appointments between Buster and Chuka. We have exhausted our savings and maxed out our credit cards. We need your help! Buster's appointment for BOTOX is scheduled for 1/27/25 and they expect, if all goes well, surgery 2 weeks later with several follow-up appointments to closely monitor his healing. We love Buster and will do anything for him that we can, but there is just no more money available.

With all the testing, procedures, surgery, and visits at A&M, we are looking at over $4000. That doesn't even include the fuel driving back and forth to College Station, time off from work to go spend the day there, follow-up visits with our vet, and the numerous changes we are having to make to our home and yard to keep him safe. No bone in his nose and blind means every time he runs into something, he gets a bloody nose and further damages his palate.

Thank you for reading the long story and we greatly appreciate any help you can give!