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Ushwin Pai raised £730 from 32 supporters
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Closed 02/10/2018
Weʼve raised £730 to go towards Toby's abdomen drains. Each one extends his life. He is otherwise happy & the experts agree he isn't ready to be put down.
- Hemel Hempstead, UK
- Funded on Tuesday, 2nd October 2018
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Story
EDIT: £380 / £400 reached! THANK YOU!!! I can't exactly believe you've been so generous. All of the love x This will keep up his treatment for another 10-12 weeks (so long as there are no other complications). We'll keep raising money to our stretch target of £1000. Every £129 raised is 3-4 more weeks of life for him. But if he does need to be put down..... every extra penny will give Lili a leg and/or every £150 will save a street dog, give them the basic treatments they need, and find them a good home. Every penny will make a difference.
Before you read the little history: I wouldn't have considered this if a few friends hadn't mentioned that they would consider donating. We have never ever been irresponsible dog owners. Toby was insured, but we're caught in a loophole. Regardless of what happens here, we will still do whatever we can for the little guy. If that means cancelling something else to make this work, we will. We don't know if the treatments will extend his life by 1 week or 1 year. But we want to make sure we have covered all bases.
Toby has terminal heart failure. This was diagnosed 2.5 years ago, and he was given 6 months to 2 years to live. Thanks to the MRIs, heart scans, regular vet visits (which he oddly loves) and medication he has had, he has exceeded his life expectancy.
As it's a heart condition, anything possibly related to this isn't covered by insurance any more (which covered 1 year of any heart problem). So when his lungs started having issues with liquid build up (deemed due to the heart by the insurance company), we had to pay for it ourselves. Not a problem. We had saved for that eventuality. The diuretics kept the liquid at bay.
We had this going well for about a year and a half.
Now, however, liquid is draining into his abdomen. This is the main thing that is causing him to be seriously uncomfortable. He almost looks pregnant when it's at its worst. The description given was to imagine you were pregnant, and had a few REALLY big meals on top of it. Not pain, but permanent stretched skin and bloatedness that you can't get rid of. And when it's at its worst he can't be in any position bar standing up.
Each drain cost £129.28 (including anti biotics). As he's amazing, they don't need to do this under anaesthetic which cuts costs. He sits still through the whole thing. As the insurance company can link this to the heart (no guarantee it is - it could be a separate condition - but the insurance company can make the link), we aren't covered any more, and have over the last year used up savings on meds and drains (well that's what savings are for!).
The liquid build up means that when he's 'full', he can't lie down, and struggles to sit. As you can imagine - for a dog - this is horrid. I have spent the last few nights holding him in an upright position as that's the only way he can be comfortable. He's currently in his bed, fast asleep making little squeaky noises in his dreamworld :) It's actually a great thing to see and hear.
Are we dragging this out? Probably. Is it for us? No. Rest assured, we aren't those people. We are ready to euthanize him, but he's otherwise happy and playful. He loves his walks, food and drink (as much as he ever has). We always said if one of those goes awry then that is that. But he's a little fighter and has been defying the odds.
Why are we doing this? Because he's a living creature and our responsibility. We cannot justify putting him down if he's not in pain and it can be comfortably dealt with. You don't take on a dog without taking on the responsibility. We just got caught with the "per condition" policy. We won't again (Lili is on a lifetime cover plan now).
At the moment the drains are doing the trick. We don't know how long this will last or how well - there are no guarantees - but we have literally done everything, so there will be no regrets. He has been with us for 11 years, and his 12th birthday approaches on 25th June.
We want to be able to keep him happy and healthy until we know for a fact that he about to reach the pain stage and will then euthanize him. We won't let it get to that. He won't be one of those skin and bone dogs being carried outside to pee! Life needs to be worth living.
This does feel a bit like begging, and that doesn't feel right, but if people want to donate that would be wonderful. As I said, if we raise no money - we will still do it - the money will come from somewhere. This would just ease it a bit. If he does take a sudden downturn, or the experts deem that it's time, then we will end it, and will donate half of the remaining money to the Royal Veterinary Clinic to aid research and the other half to ordering Lili's prosthetic (she's a tripod and it costs ~£1500 to get her limb roboticised).
x
(note, just for your info, Just Giving take 5% in fees, so you know where all your money goes)
Updates
2
- 6 years ago
Ushwin Pai
6 years agoWe're so close to our initial £400. Thank you so much. I can't exactly believe you've been so generous. All of the love x This will keep up his treatment for another 10-12 weeks (so long as there are no other complications). We'll keep raising money to our stretch target of £1000. Every £129 raised is 3-4 more weeks of life for him. But if he does need to be put down..... every extra penny will give Lili a leg and/or every £150 will save a street dog, give them the treatments they need, and find them a good home. Thank you all again x
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- 6 years ago
Ushwin Pai
6 years agoShare this update to help us raise more
Ushwin Pai started crowdfunding
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Supporters
32
Clare Richardson
Aug 19, 2018
We'd like to say i) thank you ever so much for all your help with Monty; it is really appreciated. ii) We wanted to support Toby for you so that you can have as long as possible with your companion.
£100.00
Akash Paun
Jul 20, 2018
£15.00
Thomas O'Sullivan
Jul 20, 2018
£20.00
Terry Davies
Jul 19, 2018
£20.00
Stevie
Jul 19, 2018
Love Tobes.
£10.00
Riki and Hazel
Jul 19, 2018
🐶🖤
£15.00
Craig Tuohy
Jul 4, 2018
Gip
£30.00
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