Let's Get "One Eyed Willy" Walking Again

Update: We shopped around and went with a less expensive plan that will take double the amount of surgeries and healing time. The plan is not ideal for a dog her size, but when she's done and healed, she should have her mobility back and a much higher quality of life than before surgery! Thank you Fremont Animal Hospital/ Dr. Breuker and her team for giving us a plan B that was *more* affordable.

Hi, my name is Ashley Pung and I'm raising money to help cover medical expenses for our 4yr old dog, Willow AKA "One Eyed Willy". My husband and I adopted Willy in 2020. She came from a severe abuse/neglect situation in Texas. When we originally took her in as a foster, she had heartworm, mange, one eye (from a neglected eye infection as a puppy), was in diapers as a 50 lb dog (because of another neglected infection as a puppy, everything with her urinary tract didn't form quite right), and she was terrified of her own shadow. It took her almost a month before she was brave enough to leave her kennel without any coaxing. At that point, we adopted her because putting her through another rehoming seemed like a betrayal of her trust.

We have spent the last three years giving her the medical care, professional training, and love that she has needed to thrive and actually act like a dog. These last few months, she has been losing her ability to use her back legs. She can't run, jump, or get around on her own anymore.

According to the vets at Blue Pearl Animal Hospital, our girl has Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease (a degenerative disease) and subsequent knee arthritis. She has ruptured her CrCl (Cranial Cruciate Ligament) in both knees. This is the equivalent to a human tearing both ACL's. The good news is that this is the most common reason for hind limb lameness/pain and there is a 95% chance of a full recovery with surgery. The bad news is that the estimate for her surgery alone is just under $10,000.

For the last 10 months, we've dipped heavily into our saving and took on some credit card debt for my own unexpected medical expenses and missed work. The only alternatives to her having this surgery is for her to live a relatively short life in pain, managed with pain pills that have been upsetting her stomach and can have side effects with prolonged use... or, we've had to have the tough conversation about putting her down. This is an extremely hard option to consider, as my husband and I will likely never be able to have biological children of our own, and we adopted her as our "baby girl". Although she hasn't been able to jump up on the bed, couch, or car seat herself for about 5 months, she still has good days and is a happy dog. It seems unfair to shorten her life to only 4yrs without even trying the surgery. Not to mention, her K9 brother, Benny, would not understand her absence, they are practically inseparable.

100% of the money will be used towards her surgery, medications, and equipment for her recovery (like a special stability harness, ramps, etc). This may seem silly to some people, but, for us, we love our dog and we want to see One Eyed Willy walking again. Thank you for taking the time to read this and possibly donating. Even $5 would help us a lot at this time.