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Run for Roxy

Roxy has had medical problems all her life. For once, she has the chance to be a pain-free, normal dog. A chance she so very much deserves.

Run for Roxy

Roxy has had medical problems all her life. For once, she has the chance to be a pain-free, normal dog. A chance she so very much deserves.

1 Campaign |

Aviano, Italy

$490 USD 14 backers

7% of $7,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

Story

FAQ

Updates 1

Comments 3

Owners Chad and Mercedes Snow travel the world following Chad's job in the United States Air Force, but it has come at a cost. Read their story below:

We helped rescue gobs of animals while we were in South Carolina and spent far too much money on dogs that we'd never be able to keep. We fostered, we rehabilitated, we loved. We rescued a puppy of our own, and later, a kitten. In our location in South Carolina, the rate of strays, cruelty, and overall lack of empathy is unbelievable and ghastly. So, we're thankful to be stationed in Italy, where it's almost the complete opposite. But now it's our very own dog's turn for help. And this time, we can't do it by ourselves.

When Roxy was growing, she suffered from Panosteitis, a painful inflammation of the bones that most often affects German Shepherds and causes limping and lameness. The limping can jump around from leg to leg, and most outgrow it by 18 months old. And on the day Roxy turned 18 months and was still limping, we were told to wait a few weeks longer as she may not be completely done growing. We were also told that she had hip dysplasia (also prominent in the GSD breed), but it had gone unnoticed under the mask of the Panosteitis. Unfortunately in the next few weeks, Chad would receive short orders to Italy, and everything else had to be put on the back burner while we prepared to leave the country.

I had Roxy registered at the on-base clinic and in for an appointment within the few two weeks of arriving at our new station. It was then that we also learned she also had two ruptured cruciate ligaments, something also masked by the Panosteitis, but unfortunately could have been caught and treated much earlier had doctors actually investigated all possible angles of her limping. She was x-rayed and prescribed an additional pain medicine, but we'd have to see an off-base veterinarian for the anti-inflammatory she was already taking.

We took the x-rays to the off-base vet, got her other medicine, and scheduled an appointment with his colleague, an orthopedic surgeon. The orthopedic surgeon took one look at her scans and said quite frankly, "She's a mess." The arthritis she's accumulated in her knees and hips (and there is a LOT of it) is permanent damage. She will stay on anti-inflammatories the rest of her life. Dogs can live a long time with hip dysplasia with minimal problems, so her hips were made least important for now. Her knees, however, need fixed. And it could very likely be that her knees are causing most of her limping, lameness, atrophic (muscle loss), and balance problems. This is the first bit of good news we'd heard in a long time. Fix her knees and she could be a mostly normal dog for the first time in her life? Where do we sign!?

Right under the almost $7,000 price tag. She'll need to go under three times: once for each knee and again to remove the hardware. In the states, these surgeries would have been covered by pet insurance. Now that we are stationed overseas, it's completely out of pocket. The burden is even greater because I (Mercedes) am limited to on-base jobs, of which there are currently none that entertain my degrees, and my student loan payments are about to kick in as well. We can afford some, but we have to admit defeat and ask for help.

It's disheartening because we've bent over backwards to help strays and abused animals, but now that it's my own dog's turn, we find ourselves useless. And every day that passes that she limps or is sore and stiff, we feel more and more guilt. Quite a few people have said, "She's just a dog. I'd never spend that much." True. She is just a dog. But at only two years old, she has such a long life to live. And maybe I'm sappier than most (probably so as I'm crying while I type this), but this dog is family. This dog is and forever will be our first baby. This dog taught me patience while she learned not to chew everything in our house. She taught me to handle anger when she ate our entire laundry room floor. She taught me how to nurture while she outgrew car-sickness. She taught me how to forgive when she ran off and I was overwhelmed with the fear she'd been stolen or hurt. She taught me how to be excited over the little things when she gifted me a dead bunny, but a gift nonetheless. She reminds me to make time for those I love each time she drops a slobbery, wet toy in my lap. She reminds me to love all and abundantly while she serves as a therapy dog. She has made an excellent guard dog, babysitter, and friend. And she's incredibly too smart for her own good. Roxy holds a huge part of our hearts and many of the memories since the start of our marriage. She deserves to be a happy, pain-free, normal dog. It'd be the greatest Christmas gift there ever was.

All our love and blessings,
The Snows

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Choose your Perk

Unsung hero.

$5 USD

Unending gratitude from our hearts and from Roxy's.

1 claimed

Virtual hugs.

$10 USD

Every little bits helps. And if Roxy could weed her way into your lap (like she so often does) to give you a hug, you'd bet there'd be kisses to match, too.

1 claimed

The unheard voices.

$20 USD

Membership in the Golden Hearts Club. The unheard animal voices around the world are saying better things because of you today.

3 claimed

Love that keeps on giving.

$50 USD

Not only will you see to it that Roxy is given the opportunity for her needed operations, you're also helping to fund the aftercare she will need the rest of her happy and pain-free life.

2 claimed