Hello Everyone,
Thank you for considering donating towards our beloved Berry.
What happened?
At the end of October, we noted Berry was a little lethargic. He is an older dog (11 years in January), so we kept a close watch on him but did not worry too much. What really scared us was that on Monday the 26th of October, he refused food. If you have ever met a Golden Retriever, you know that this means something must be very wrong.
We took Berry to a series of veterinarians until we found out that he had pericardial effusion (liquid buildup around the heart) as result of a tumor in his heart. We drained the blood and after a night of observation in the hospital, he was back to his hungry, playful self.
He spent the rest of the week well until on Monday, November 2nd, he refused food and water. Once again, his pericardium was filling with blood and had to be drained. Then, Tuesday morning, it had to be drained for a third time... He lost over 100ml of blood in two days.
Every time it's drained, he needs to be sedated and it's very stressful for him. His vitals are good except for this problem, and the tumor is not affecting his heart function. He has a good chance to get better as long as we can stop the bleeding.
We want to avoid putting him through unnecessary stress, and our first priority is always his well being and comfort.
Not all hope is lost. We want is to give Berry a fighting chance!
We need time to diagnose his cancer and begin treatment.
The veterinarians want to perform an operation to make draining blood from his heart easier (thoracoscopy). This will buy time by hopefully slowing down the blood loss and making it easier for us to drain the blood without needing to sedate him every time.
However, the vet bills are piling up fast with his hospital stays, consultations, treatments and now a very expensive surgery. We have medical insurance called Petlove, but even then the bills have been rough. We don't want to compromise on his treatment, but we may soon not have an option.
He is a strong puppy, and is fighting with all his strength. Your help will go directly toward his surgery, hospital stay, and cancer treatment. Any amount of money you can offer will buy Berry precious time.
Below is a picture of just the latest of the vet bills we have received. This one is the steepest one, for his surgery.
How will we use the money?
We will not profit off of donations in any way. All money will go towards Berry's treatment. If any money is left over for any reason, we pledge to donate it to Instituto Caramelo, a local charity that rescues, treats and offers adoptions of dogs and cats.
Cute Dog Pictures?
Of course we have cute dog pictures. Here you go:
Big snout, big dog. Berry is about 50kg/110lbs!
He learned very young that if he steals a sock, we can't ignore him. That's how he asks us to play.
A picture of him from the hospital staff. He managed to get out for a short walk today.
Berry and me, going on a trip together.
