UPDATE: Blind Dog

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Tom Schindler

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We visited the "Doggie Eye Doctor" today. Pete has 260 degree Retnal Detachment in both eyes. It is reversable, but very expensive. If it were my dog, I would be cancelling my honeymoon and he would be seeing again. Unfortunatly, he is not my dog and my brother can not afford to pay the $6,000+ for the surgery.



Any suggestions?



We are getting his mother checked next month to make sure she doesn't have that problem.



We are going to call some of the universities to inquire if any of the students can possibly perform that surgery. What have we got to loose. When my sister was in Dental Hygene school, we went to her to get our teeth cleaned, with full X-Rays and everything for $10.00. When the students were finished, the instructors (Actual RDH & DDS) would go everything, so the work was by the students, but the instructors checked everything.



Anyone know of any schools that MAY teach something like that. We are calling Ohio State University tomorrow to find something out.





Tom
 
Ohio State in Columbus.



When I was living in Athens, Ohio many years ago, the vet school at Ohio State used to do such things. I was able to take advantage of this type of service when my Golden suffered a minor stroke. It ended up costing me around $100 instead of the thousand or so it would have cost elsewhere.



David <><
 
hamradioextra,



We will be calling them tomorrow. Hopefully we can get that little guy's vision back. I love this little guy so much it hurts. When I hold him, I just sit and cry.



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I mean, it is one thing to know there is nothing you can do, but to know something can be done, but the cost is so prohibitive, it just makes it worse. Since I live in Akron, Ohio...Columbus is not a far drive and my cousin lives there.



Hopefully they may be able to help. God I hope so!!!





Tom
 
Caymen,

You are such a big "Teddy Bear"! I love it!. There are not that many people that would

put that much of a value on Human Friendship, let alone, Man's Best Friend!

Weigh the options and definately check out the University options.

Is he a poodle or Bichon Frise (?) trimmed? What is the "little guy"?:)
 
Poodle. I helped deliver him. Molly did most of the work.



Here is his mommy, Molly. Those two are best friends. My brother Larry, droped him off tuesday night at Theresa's house (my fiance) to take him to the vet wednesday morning. Molly must know something isn't right about him. She went to her bowl, grabbed a mouthfull of food and put it in front of him to eat. Talk about a sweetheart.



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This pic is old. She got a hair cut later that day. She was only a year old or so when that picture was taken.





Tom
 
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I love this little guy so much it hurts. When I hold him, I just sit and cry.
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Good luck with Pete. Hope all ends well for the little feller.

I love my Boston Terrier more than most people. Those without a pooch don't truly understand.



 
I know what you mean Tom. It a very hard situation, the final dys of my dogs life cost me $2000.

He was still in pretty good shape, if it wasn't for the cancer in his nose casuing bad bleeding I'm sure he would have lived much longer. He was alittle over 12 and still strong. The could not get the bleeding to stop 100% and as soon as he got excited (which was all the time) it would start again. The Animal Medical Hospital in Manhattan, NY had him drugged up and tried to talk me into doing surgery and radiation and kemo. He would have had the hair burned off his face from the radiation and it would have made him blind. They neglected to tell me any of this!!!! Luckilly my Vet that I know for years told me the truth and I decided to put him to rest with out massive amounts of pain and agony. He didnt deserve 1 minute of either. Especially just to be around to make me happy. I mad the choice and still think about it and tell him I'm sorry. I know I did the right thing for his sake but it still gets into my head.



Make the decision you know is the right one and stick with it.
 
Caymen and JohnnyB,

Last year my 9 year old lab tore his right rear acl.We took him to a specialist and without hesitation put out $3300.00 to repair his leg(that price was all visits ,xrays,meds and surgery).This past tuesday I took him to the vet to have a small lump checked out that just started growing 3 weeks ago.I am expecting bloodwork results today.They suspect a very aggressive type of cancer so I have surgery scheduled for July 3rd to remove the tumor and have a biopsy.

Total estimated cost is going to be approx. $1000.00.

He has skin allergies that prompted us to get an electrostatic(I think thats what they call it)filter and humidifyer on our heating system.We never have come up with a concrete allergin because his numerous allergy tests(for food and airborne irritants)have come back negative.

Everything together has gone up to at least $6000.00.

Some of the people I work with said They would never spend that much on a dog.I figure I went to the Humane Society and picked him out.He did not come to me to ask for a home.I understand the reluctance to spend large sums of money on pets but I feel since I adopted him it is my responsibility to make every attemp to provide him with a healthy life.Fortunetly my wife and I are financially capable (not rich) so far to afford these costs.

Although with this cancer,we will have this one surgery and then see how things go.If it continues we will keep him untill he is not comfortable any longer and then put him to rest.

I also do not want to put him thru radiation and kemo.
 
Caymen asks:
Any suggestions?
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Yeah, I have several; some good, some not so good:



- Don't take it personally (putting on asbestos suit). It's not your dog. You yourself said your brother is about to go on a honeymoon, and that if it were you, you would cancel it and care for the dog. It sounds like your brother doesn't feel that way. It's a matter of priorities, and for him, it sounds like he puts a lesser priority on making the dog well than you...but it's his dog, so don't tear yourself up about it.



- Finance it! $6000 is not an insurmountable amount, and most vets would take a payment plan I suspect. But then, to do this, it comes back to priorities. If your brother doesn't value the dog enough to go into debt for him (and no one should blame him if he doesn't) then what can you or I do, right?



- Ask For Help! Create a web page and a paypal link and ask for money. Start with this site and a few others. You could get quite a bit.



TJR
 
You yourself said your brother is about to go on a honeymoon, and that if it were you, you would cancel it and care for the dog.
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I did not say that.



If it were my dog, I would be cancelling my honeymoon and he would be seeing again. Unfortunatly, he is not my dog and my brother can not afford to pay the $6,000+ for the surgery.
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I am getting married, not him.



He can not physically afford to even finance 6 grand to help his dog. If it were my dog thought, I would do it. Odds are, I am getting laid off in October at work since King George II would rather send the money that was budgeted for my company to Iraq to help fund his "oil war", I would take on the debt myself and do what it takes to get Pete's vision back.





Tom
 
Okay, I am sorry Caymen, I just assumed that since you said what you would do if it were your dog you were talking about him and what he could give up, not what you would give up.



I am still not sure why you felt the need to say what you would sacrifice if it were your dog. It's not your dog. My point was everyone has something they can sacrifice, everyone has their own priorities, and you yourself seemed to imply that you would make caring for this dog your utmost priority. One can only assume that you would say that to imply that it isn't as big a priority for your brother. That's what I assumed you were trying to say. Were you trying to imply that?



You keep saying he can't afford it, and he can't do it, but if it were your dog, you would do it.



Have you ASKED him for the dog?



TJR
 
How old is this dog Caymen? The reason I ask is I may be tempted to spend that on a relatively young dog but not an older dog. A little over a year ago we lost our 12 year old Beagle to cancer in a very similar situation to JohnnyB's dog. Call me cruel but there was no way I was going to spend a lot of money on a 12 year old dog, no matter how much I cared for him. Not just because of the money but at that age I believe a dog would rather just go quietly and peacefully instead of going through surgeries and treatment just to prolong his life for maybe a couple years. I know I would.
 
I am still not sure why you felt the need to say what you would sacrifice if it were your dog.
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That is what you call a statement. Simply saying that if it was my dog, I would do it. Pete is my brothers dog so I have no say so in the matter. I am not saying that his priorities are wrong or anything. He simply can not afford it.



You keep saying he can't afford it, and he can't do it, but if it were your dog, you would do it.
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"You keep saying he can't afford it, therefore he can't do it, but if it were your dog, you would do it."



That is it.



No, I have not asked him for his dog. It is his dog, not mine. He is not breaking the law or anything by not getting Pete's eyes fixed. It is perfectly legal for someone to take thier healthy pet to the vet and have him/her put to sleep. This is no different. An animal, by law, is a piece of property. It doesn't make him a bad guy or anything.





Tom
 
Note, Caymen, I didn't say it made him a bad guy, and I even said that it is his choice and no one should blame him for it.



I just asked the question about you taking the dog because you seem to be tearing yourself up about this, you made it clear you WOULD take care of the dog, and you have made it clear that your brother can't take care of the dog (and I unemotionally see this as a choice, not a fact but I support that you feel that he can't)...so the logical thing to do would be for you to either give him the money, or ask him to let you have the dog.



Or, possibly try the web charity route I mentioned. One of those three things seem like your best bet, IMHO.



Good luck.



P.S. If it were me and it were my dog, and I had the money, I would probably euthanize the dog in the best interest of the dog and my family.



But that's me.



TJR
 
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Note, Caymen, I didn't say it made him a bad guy, and I even said that it is his choice and no one should blame him for it.
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I don't hold it against him.



I just asked the question about you taking the dog because you seem to be tearing yourself up about this, you made it clear you WOULD take care of the dog, and you have made it clear that your brother can't take care of the dog (and I unemotionally see this as a choice, not a fact but I support that you feel that he can't)...so the logical thing to do would be for you to either give him the money, or ask him to let you have the dog.
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My brother can take care of a blind dog. If he was unable to take care of the dog, I would take him back. I helped deliver him as a pup and I was the one that housebroke him. I was the one that taught him how to eat solid food. I taught him how to climb stairs. I taught him how to sit, lay down, roll over, etc. I am the one that took him to the vet to get his tail cut. etc. I am attached to the dog, but he isn't my dog now and that is that. If my brother was going to put his down, that is different. If he was going to get rid of the dog or something, I would take him back.



If he is going to provide a little blind dog with love, a safe environment, and companionship, what have I really got to say about it. Just because he can not afford to spend $6,000.00 on eye surgery, but I would be willing if it was my dog, does not mean that he loves his dog less then I love that dog.



Like all of us, we have a budget to live on. Wages are not going up, healthcare is skyrocketing. Price of gas is always going up, etc. We all must live within our means. Unforseen circumstances affect us all and sometimes we have to make scrifices so other "more important" things can happen.



The reason I said "more important" (with quotes) and not more important is because what is important to you, might not be important to me, but it doesn't make you wrong.





Tom
 
Tom, there is an EXCELLENT animal eye surgeon in Charlotte NC, he is near Ericcson Stadium. Unfortunately, I cannot remember his name. He is the one that did the cataract surgery on Timmy @ $2,500.00 an eye back in 1998. However, he came highly recommended (he is supposed to be the best or near the best eye surgeon in the U.S.for animals)and if the situation ever arises and one of our other pets needs eye surgery, we would definitely go back to him. We know how to get to his office, just don't remember the name.

In the 18 years we had Timmy, we must have spent easily $25,000. just for his allergy treatments, but he loved us unconditionally and never ever complained about all the torture he had to go through for testing and shots all the time. His allergy shots were flown into Albuquerque from Phoenix at $100 a pop.

Maybe starting up a fund to help with the surgery isn't a bad idea, LaRue & I would gladly contribute. We have been through this situation and can relate.

Let us know what happens, our pets ARE our children! We do care about what happens to Pete:wub::wub:
 
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