Help with Kobe’s Medical expenses

Kobe went to see Dr Glass today from Red Bank Vet. Hospital for a checkup on his progress and blood test results. Kobe’s results came back negative for parasite, viral, fungal, bacterial and distemper meningitis. Dr Glass believes his guess of Kobe’s condition was correct and Kobe has (SRMA) Steroid Responsive Meningitis Arteritis also known as (autoimmune Meningitis) A lot of information was provided at Kobe’s appointment. Kobe is progressing with the prednisone and other medication he was prescribed from Dr Glass but now that they are sure he doesn’t have any of the above types (viral, fungal ect) they provided us with a list of options. Kobe can stay on just the (prednisone) steroids and other meds he is prescribed but he believes Kobe would progress more if we were to add Atopica and/or Cytosar. The best treatment and most aggressive treatment is to do all of them at once. Cytosar is form of chemo that has to be injected into Kobe and Atopica is a pill form which helps surprise his immune system. It was a lot of information to take in and make a split decision on. I wasn’t prepared to hear I need to put on special gloves, give my dog a shot of chemo in his shoulder/ back area. This chemo medication results in him having to pee in a specific area aware from other pets and unable to lick other animals or people for 3 days. This is all on top of the (prednisone) steroids and other meds that make him drink and want to eat excessively. For now we have decided we are going to put Kobe on the doggy chemo (Cytosar) along with the Atopica and Prednisone and aggressively try to go at this. You might be thinking if the steroids are working why not just stay on the steroids? We could do all 3 at once or just steroids. But him on just the steroids will cause him to be on them much longer and the (prednisone) steroids have side effects after long periods of time (kidney issues liver issues, weight issues, stomach bulging issues, muscle loss issues, fatal if body relies on them..ect). Taking the (prednisone) steroids and atopica is a good option but the turn around time they have seen is not like if he took all 3 medications at the same time hand and hand. They showed me how to inject it into Kobe. He gets 4 doses (1 tonight, 2 the next day, and 1 the following day due to it starting at night not in the morning ) then he is good for 3 weeks for the ejection. And they can hopefully lower the doses as time goes on… just the shot is $200 a month. Atopica is $300 a month ($170 on chewy) and all the other meds including the prednisone he’s already getting, as well as his appointment visit fees ontop of it. 

This is all coming when I assumed he was on the right meds already and that was it. You can imagine how I feel… stressed isn’t the word. I don’t know what is. This was dropped on us on the phone because of COVID while they were examining Kobe. I don’t know how they can expect someone to make a decision that quickly.  I felt like this should have been told prior to his appointment so I could have thought about the decision and made the best possible one. Kobe is my partner, my buddy and my future therapy dog for nursing homes and children hospitals yet he is the one on chemo medication. My heart breaks for him and I just want him back to normal. Finally, I asked Dr Glass if this is a sure fix and he stated from what he has seen in Kobe and being that we were able to catch it early Kobe will eventually and hopefully become normal again. Hopefully he has a faster recovery because we are attacking it aggressively from the start. I don’t ask for help but on my personal page my sister Frannie Jarin has created a GoFundMe to assist in his medical bills which have equaled over $10,000 at this point. I’m out of work on family leave still till February 16th, when I return to work. If you can say a prayer or even just share his donation page I would really appreciate it. It would really help take some of the stress off not only my shoulders but my fiancés. I hope next month his blood test results come back in a positive light. My 2 month old daughter needs her buddy around. 

 I know some people have left comments on previous posts about their dogs having meningitis and it would take all day for me to go back and look. But if your dog has been on either Atopica or gotten the injections of Cytosar please let me know the pros and cons in the comments from your experience. I appreciate it. 

For anyone asking how Kobe got this? The answer is they may never know when it is autoimmune. It is rare and they tested as much as they can at this point. Being that there are hundreds of types it’s almost impossible to pinpoint it. I want to thank you all for the continued support. I still read all your messages.  Here is a picture of the times I hope to go back