Vet Fees for Tache, Protector of the Holy Mtn

Hi Everyone!  Thank you for visiting this site and considering a contribution to Tache's enormous Vet fees.  (pronounced "Tosh"--it means "Spot" in French--just look at him) 

On August 28, 2020, Tache was late coming in from being let outside.  Since he is well known for getting into mischief with skunks and other wildlife on our very rural West Virginia land, this wasn't too unusual except for the fact that his brother, Kipper, came back and Tache was gone another six hours after this.  When he returned about midnight, he was obviously in great pain.  He was walking "stiff-legged", breathing difficultly, and unable to sit down.  In addition, he had tire tracks all over his body.  I thought that a car, or maybe an ATV (what we call a "four-wheeler" up here) had possibly hit him.  I checked him for wounds, but I didn't immediately find any.  I checked him all over, and while he was sensitive everywhere, I felt what I thought were thistles burrowed deep within his skin, a hazard of running in the tall grasses, fields, and woods.  I was planning to remove them the next day when he felt better, as he was clearly sensitive.  I couldn't have been more incorrect.  But the difficulty breathing and the tire tracks were greatly alarming, so I called our Vets at Cheat Lake Animal Hospital in Morgantown, open 24 hours.  

The Vet on call advised me to watch him overnight since I could find no wounds but gave me instructions for what internal bleeding might look like, so I watched him most of the night, sleeping only every two-three hours.  I also, with the Vet's permission gave him Tramadol, a medication that he had been prescribed before, for pain.  He finally got to sleep about 5 AM, and slept until 11 AM the next morning.  He ate a little, went out to poop, but his brother Kipper hovered over him, and the breathing, while less acute, seemed not to be resolving as quickly as I would have liked.  So, I made an emergency appointment for Saturday morning and brought him up.  Our Vet at Cheat Lake Animal Hospital is 1 hr. 20 minutes from our house, but they are outstanding; A general and emergency practice, and just the kindest people you'd ever want to meet.  So my dear friend Jill Devrick and I went with Tache on Saturday morning, and they took him back for an exam.  Within 15 minutes the Vet came back with a worried look on her face and said what she thought was the problem:  Tache had a pneumothorax, a punctured or deflated lung, and she had to get blood and x-rays immediately on him, or he might die.  At this time, she too thought that this was from being hit with a vehicle.  So I gave permission for this, and 30 minutes after that, she came back with a shocking diagnosis.

Tache had been shot over 20 TIMES with a BB Gun.  The pellets were all over the left side of his body, legs, and tail, and there was even one in his ear which they cannot ever remove without the risk of permanently damaging his hearing.  I could not see the wounds until she shaved him, revealing the hideous site of pellets marring over half of his poor broken body.  Someone also indeed ran him over, too, or tried to.  However, there were two pellets that were threatening his life.  One was in his pleural cavity, and had punctured the lung but was now lodged in the wall of the chest.  This would cause internal bleeding and infection.  The second was lodged in the abdominal wall, and she was unsure if that had pierced the stomach or other organs there.  This one was dangerous to remove, especially because he could not breathe with the punctured lung and so they could not put him under the type of anesthesia needed for this.  He had a 75% chance of living with these operations, but by the time I got home, the chances of him living or dying had deteriorated to 50%.  JP and his girlfriend Andrea rushed from Thomas to Morgantown, just in case this was the last time they were to see Tache in this life.  

Before I left to allow the Vets to operate (I could not stay because of COVID), they gave me an estimate of the expected charges.  I nearly fainted, but I agreed to this willingly.  When you take on the responsibility of a pet, you bear whatever costs there are because you have committed to a sacred promise.  They are your friends and companions through thick and thin.  We are their guardians, and must love them and help them when ill.  So, I put down a deposit of $250 and signed a promissory note for the rest.  Depending on what they found and what they have to do, the fees are to range between approximately $2300-4100 USD.  I won't know how much until it is all over.  

So, Tache had several hours of surgery yesterday (Saturday) and is now being watched to see if he can withstand the abdominal surgery, or if it is needed.  He is so far not able to eat much, but his blood work and breathing looks much better and he is giving smiles and kisses (a by-product of being high as a kite, according to Dr. Hughes, his Vet) and charming the Vet Techs--typical Tache!  Because of the blood work we did find that he has a disease akin to Lyme's disease that he did not have at his annual February check-up, so they are treating him with antibiotics.  But this is going to be an expensive process, getting him well again.  

I had not actually thought of doing a GoFundMe for these Vet bills, but some of my friends publicly and privately encouraged me to do this.  Since I am a single mother with a son in his Senior year of college, it seems like a good idea, although I have to admit that I am a bit mortified, if I am honest.  I try always to honor my obligations, and so I would have honored this one, no matter how many years it would have taken me to pay off this debt.  But I do need help, and so I am swallowing my pride to humbly ask for your support.  All monies raised will go to Tache's Vet Bills.  I don't know how to attach the estimate, but when I find out how, I will be happy to do that.  

Thank you so very much for your help.  I cannot imagine who might think that shooting a playful, non-aggressive dog over 20 times, in addition to running him over with an ATV was the right thing to do.  However, it is true that craven, twisted people exist all over the world, and even here in my beloved West Virginia.  All I know is that Tache is a sweet pup, so intelligent and playful, and wouldn't willfully hurt a flea.  I will be making sure that he and his brother Kipper are SUPER safe from now on.  Again, I so very much appreciate your help and for showing your love for me and my fur babies. 

St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Animals, pray for us and help my loving companion Tache to come back home safely to his brother Kipper, and me and live his life in happiness, safety and peace.  Amen.