Happy Birthday Vinny

Happy Birthday to my Vinny the Pooh. He's 5 months today. I've been having trouble with blogger lately as it seems many times I can't sign in or my posts don't seem to get posted. I have to keep saving drafts now lately so that when that happens I don't feel frustrated and forget about putting up pictures. This picture was taken at the beginning of the month. Click on it for a larget view. He's even bigger now! Look how regal he looks. I'm going to try again to get some up here and hopefully it will work. If not, you can always visit my flickr photo page for pictures. I haven't been able to take any the last couple of weeks since my camera died, but Christmas is coming soon so that should change. :o) I wanted to write some of what the vet said the last few visits and one of the things she types in his report is that he has a 2/5 lameness in the leg. I don't always go to the appointments as it is often easier for Richard to take him in before work since we have one car. The vet says in his report though that he's always bright, alert, responsive, his parameters are normal and that he uses the limb with a grade 2/5 lameness. It would be nice to know what that means. She also says there's a decreased range of motion in the flexion. I don't even know what a flexion is. All I know is that I expected some lameness and decreased range of motion. She says the exercises are really helping though. He still hasn't had any pins removed, the little bones weren't healing nicely enough, although the big bone looks good. She wants to take that screw out sometime this year and I'm sure she's trying to avoid too much decrepancy in the length of the limbs since the fracture was on the growth plate. He needs to go in next week and so far the vet has only been charging us for the xrays which is very nice. It has been around $70 each time, for awhile it was weekly, but lately she only sees him once every two weeks. We're getting some glucasomine tablets this weekend so he should start on those. He's such a little sweetie still and a little chow hound. I never knew how fast he could grow, I can't believe how big he is now. He's bigger then his big sister, but she's also a little peanut. He just loves to eat and lately his favorite treat is chicken flavored rawhides. He goes at them until all the flavor is on his paws and face. His little baby teeth are so adorable. So far they are coming in straight and we just keep asking him to show us his "teef" because they are so darned cute. He's become Richard's little baby more and more. He can't wait for Richard to come home and he watches him intently when he is home and he's doing stuff in the house. He loves it when Richard lets him put Jake to sleep. Richard will hold Vinny's harness and let Vinny sleep on the bed and put Jake to sleep like he did when he was a little puppy. It's the sweetest thing and after puppy kisses the other night, Jake said, "I am the luckiest boy in the world." That says it all. We ARE so lucky and we take nothing for granted. I'm working now and slowly things are improving for us. I missed 3 days last week when I had a wicked case of the stomach flu. It was a nightmare. Blech. Ali is going to try and get the picture of all Vinny's friends up this week, I just have to foward her the photos again. Oh, and I got to meet her in labor day weekend! I posted about it, but apparently internet trolls ate it, so I have to dig it up again. That was really trippy and a lot of fun. She's as sweet in person is she is online and even prettier! We're so thankful for all the help Vinny has been given and for the help he'll still get in the future. He's getting big, he's healthy, he's doing well and I am still hopeful that he can start getting pins out soon and will one day be running about again. Until then, he's still on crate rest and it's really hard. Basically the poor guy will have spent all his puppyhood in a box and that breaks my heart, but he's going to have a full life to run about so all we can do is stay positive and look forward to that day. We let him out all the time for cuddles and as long as we hold his harness and stay right next to him he be out. Once he starts getting too playful he has to go back to his little bed. Most of the time he is really good when she's out with the family as I think he's been conditioned to stay right with us. I joke that when he is allowed to walk freely he won't know how to do anything other then stay right next to us, especualy his buddy, Richard. I'll work on keeping his page updated more often and hopefully I can get a camera so I can show you all just how BIG he really is. He's becoming rather handsome if I may say so myself.

Doggie Exercises

It's been too long again since my last update. I also looked and realized that a post I made was saved as a draft and not posted. Grr. I need to double check things lately, I'm in such a hurry it seems to get everything done that I'm assuming the computer is obeying when it's not. :o) Vinny is healing well. The vet said his large bone looks good, but that the smaller bones aren't looking as good as she'd like so she gave us an exercise to do with him for a week. We take his paw and fold it under and hold it for 30 seconds and do that over and over as much as we can throughout the day. He's being a good sport about it, especially when there's treats involved. Since she's not happy about how his small bones are healing obviously she's not ready to start taking pins out. We found out that the pin removal should be relatively simple, she'll give him a sedative and then poke open the skin and remove a pin or two. That was a huge relief for me, because one of the vets tried to tell us that it would be an operation each time he had pins taken out! EEK! Not only is that expensive, but that's hard on a puppy. Eventually though she'll take the big screw out and that one will require that he goes under. I'm not looking foward to that. But he'll be fine and we'll get through it. We thank all of you that have been able to help and who have supported us through emails and comments. We really do appreciate it, I know I keep saying that, but it's true. We're doing all we can right now and through your help, we've been able to cover x-rays and the visit when one of the pins was migrating out. Every little bit has helped. I'm waiting to hear back about an interview I had last week and today I'm putting another application in. I'm just trying to remain hopeful that things are going to turn around. I can't believe how BIG he is getting. I have to upload some pictures in flickr today. He's looking like a little handsome Boston boy. I'll get some pictures up and check the email, I want to try and send out replies today for those who have sent us messages, I just got backed up last week when my husband had a bad ear infection and had to have a cracked tooth pulled. Then our oldest daughter had some mysterious rash that was itchy and spreading from an "allergic" reaction to "something". The doctor could give us no ideas, just three bottles of medicine. Isn't that the way it always works? Sigh. If it's not one thing, it's another. Vinny sends his love.

Pictures

I'm stealing away a few more minutes. I was starting to feel sick when I realized I hadn't eaten anything. The mornings can be rough as I'm on my own and don't want to involve the kids too much in Vinny's care because they get nervous. They're afraid they'll accidentally poke his eye helping me get his collar back on. They're afraid they'll bump his arm and so forth. Vinny could care less, even though the side of his elbow has that pokey knot (the plate?) that is making his skin reddish and sore looking, he's trying to paw at his rawhide and at us to get attention. I took him out to pee, which he did just fine and I could see he was using his leg to get to where he wanted so that's a good sign. That's a puppy for you. He has that youth going for him and hopefully it wll make for good healing. He's really, really, really in a chewing mood lately. I imagine those puppy teeth are driving him nuts so I sat down next to him while he was in the harness today so he could chew his rawhide until it was soggy. Blech. Maybe that's why I haven't eaten yet, soggy rawhides don't look too tasty, but to him, they're lucious. Vinners would potty no problem outside, however, the little booger did his business almost instantly when I put him into his crate so I could eat and straighten up. I'm not sure if that's his way of getting out or if he's more comfortable going in his crate. I hope not, that's a bad habit to get in to. I do know though that he always had to do his three circle spin before doing his business and now it's hard for him to do so since we have the leash so short to avoid him jumping or running. If anyone has an suggestions or advice, send it my way. Good thing I'm used to the poop dilemna's with four kids and having worked in daycare and preschool a bazillion years ago. It's a glamorous life, I know, I know, you're jealous. Here's some pictures of Vinny, some before his accident and some obviously after the little guy had surgery. This was taken in Michigan when we were at my grandma's for the 4th of July. Richard was already in love with the little guy and couldn't spoil him enough. I think this is one of my favorite pictures at the moment. Vinny was 8 weeks old in this picture, I've been marveling at how big he's grown in just a month. Vinny was a soccer star and hopefully he'll be one again. He loved to chase the ball down the court or field and attack it, even pushing it along with his head and paws. Here he's playing ball outside a community hall in Kentucky when I drove my grandma down for a family reunion. He is a thief because he stole many hearts that weekend. His tummy was so fat and full from people sneaking him ham and biscuits. This shot was taken outside a gas station, it was appalled that the kids went without him. He was raining and he wanted to get out and get messy. This was at the hotel in Kentucky after being in the car for 13 hours. He was so good on the road, sleeping most of the time and running around during our stops. As soon as we settled into the hotel though, his Boston Terrible side came out. Whoa. He was telling us who was boss and what we needed to do and how he was going to chomp our ears off if we didn't play with him. Richard rough housed with him for a long time and he was barking and singing so loud I thought for sure we'd wake up the other guests. Ironically, we found out the guests next to us turned out to be my grandma's nephew that also drove in for the reunion. Oh, Vinny won the match, he chomped Richard's ears after all. These pictures were taken just two days before his accident. He was getting friskier with the cat, jumping up at him and barking to get his way. He used to run up to the cat and then back off when Mow Mow would bop him on the head. He thought if his little growling didn't convince the cat that he should share, maybe his begging eyes would. Here's Lil' J and Vinners after he came home from surgery. It's also his 3 month birthday. Here's a close up of his staples and wound area. He has more on the inside of his arm and 3 on his shoulder. He had a type 4 salter harris fracture right on his elbow bone & growth plate. I'm not even quite sure what that means, I just know it was on both sides of the bone and it was bad. :o( Here's a full body shot. He's gotten so big and I just hope his leg will grown normally. I'll get some more pictures up this weekend of Vinny the Superhero. He goes in on Wednesday to have his staples removed. They're looking pretty good I think and he's had his collar on always unless we're right there. Again, we're so humbled by the help he's been given, by the encouraging emails, and all the great advice. Thanks so much. Vinny sends snarfly kisses. **Rory, we saw your comment but it was accidentally deleted. Thank you for the love.

Update

I can't believe it's Thursday already. Sorry it has been a few days since my last update. I've barely had time for a shower lately and I'm so tired all the time. Friday was a really good night, he slept through most of the night. In fact, I woke up worried about him since I had hardly heard a peep and I had to go check on him which of course just woke him up. But Saturday and Sunday were really rough. I don't know if it's because it was the first two nights without his pain patch (he hasn't been acting like he's in pain) or if he is just utterly tired of the crate routine. I think Richard and I got like two hours of sleep at a time with lots of cleaning disasters. Let's just say, I told Vinny, what happens in the crate, stays in the crate. :o) It wasn't a pretty sight though, that's for sure. We're trying our best to get him back on a normal eating and bathroom routine. We've also been taking turns sitting next to him on the floor while he wears his harness. This way he gets to be out a little bit but we can make sure he doesn't try to get up and run or jump. He's doing a little better at night but now his injured arm is looking funny. Yesterday I noticed that there's sort of a knot or protusion right on the side of his elbow area. At first I thought it looked odd and I didn't remember seeing it before. Then I told myself to not be hyper-focused that his swelling is finally going down and perhaps we're just now seeing the little bone there and it looks bigger because there's a plate or pin there. Richard assured me that the pin wouldn't just come loose so I'm not sure what's going on. He's not running, jumping, or playing. He'salmost always in the crate (sometimes he does though shake his head or try to move around in the crate) and when we take him out to the bathroom we carry him and then let him lightly walk about to go. They said he could do that, as long as it was carefully and not too much. This morning the area looks a little red and if I lightly touch it, whatever that is behind the skin does feel rather pokey. I'll really be in bad way if a pin or plate is loose. I don't think I can handle that, and I can't imagine how that could happen, Richard says they drill them into the bone really good. They didn't say that when the swelling goes down that we'd be able to see anything there, if so, I wish they would have so I'm not worrying about it. I think we're taking him in later just to be on the safe side. His follow up isn't until Wednesday and I don't want to take a risk by waiting that long. Of course, they want $100 just to look at it. When there's a will there's a way. I've been watching the vet shows on the animal channel where people's animals have had even more expensive surgeries and they just make it work. Although, it seems those vets have been willing to break up the fee where as mine didn't even give us an option other then signing him over. I'm still upset we had to go through that nightmare. It's better to be safe then sorry though, so we'll just have to do what we have to. As I write this, he's been whiny at me from the crate. I did have him in our room to keep him from being disrupted, but with his arm being a concern for me, I want to know whether or not he's moving about. He's finally quiet after I gave him a "Shhh." I've been watching the Dog Whisperer I can't believe I'm admitting this and Cesar Millan was saying that whenever an accident has happened with a dog, the owners often feel so terrible that they overcompensate and carry anxiousness over to the dog and become over protective. This in turn makes the dog feel insecure and he also doesn't sense you're in control. I don't want to become so over protective that I'm driving myself and the dog crazy. :o) I love his outgoing, frisky, and friendly personality, there's no way I want to see him become nervous and anxious because I can't let go of some horrible accident that happened to him. Cesar said dogs live in the moment, not in the past and not in the future. So I do have to let this go. Reliving it in my head and worrying about what might happen later isn't going to do anyone any good and I don't want to be that person. I've been firm with him when he needs to calm down, he's not going to get his feelings hurt, I'm keeping him from hurting himself. Once I stood there at the crate and calmly told him, "Vinny, no. Shhh!" I saw a big difference. Whew. I of course have upped his Cheerio intake just a little. I can't help it. He's like my baby. I'll try to get some pictures up here later or at his Flickr set, I just wanted to post an update while I had a moment. Thanks again to all who are Vinny's friends, Melissa & Vinny

Night Two

It's official. I have a newborn baby in the house again. OK, not really but it feels like it. Yesterday Richard came home with some sedatives from the vet (apparently the surgery came in $16 under, so they gave us $3 after the meds. Getting money back? That's a nice change.) He took one look at me and asked if I was OK and if I needed anything since I was still in house clothes and my hair was a mess. Apparently a shower would be good too since I had puppy poop on my shirt as well. Heck, I didn't even notice. How I look and how clean my house is right now isn't even on my radar. Sound familiar? Richard brought home another surprise as well. Since it was Vinny's 3 month birthday yesterday he brought home dog biscuits? No. Rawhide? Certainly not, he'd try to grab them with both arms. A new lovey? Nah, it would just get poopified. Well, what else could it be? DOGGIE ICE CREAM!!! And did he ever like it. I swear this dog is so spoiled and the fame just might start getting to his head too. I do say though he is the cutest Boston in the whole galaxy, but I'm a bit biased. The doggie ice cream must have been good luck too because not more then 10 minutes later I thought we either had a major case of Boston farts or he finally did his business. Good thing he had training pads in the crate, there looked to be like 2 days worth of poop in there. Ih ope you're not eating. If he could talk, he'd sigh and say, "Boy, I feel better." How can a dog so small poop that much? Speaking of small. I was looking a pictures from must a few days before the accident and now. I can't believe how fast he's growing and how fast things have changed for him, for us. He's looking so big. It worries me in a way though, I want his leg to grow properly, but I know we're doing all we can to insure he heals well. The sedative was like magic at first, he slept so nicely on his side keeping pressure off of his arm. He slept for a long time and then we gave him his nightly anti-inflammatory after some water. He was so relaxed but still being himself, giving out kisses. Last night though, he woke up starving like he has been and he never could quite settle back down. I think we got up with him three times, just giving him lovins, checking on him, and trying not to cry from his begging to be on the bed. We gave him another quarter of the sedative but that didn't seem to help this time, she said if we had to, to give him a half. So we tried a little more and it was a tad better but not much. He must have slept too much earlier. I don't want to have him on a half if I can help it either. I think part of the problem is the darn collar. He has a hard time getting comfortable with it on, so we're going to get a different crate today. Heidi aka Vinny's first mama and a local Boston breeder in the area said she could get us a nice discount on an open crate with dividers. I hope that will make him more comfortable. I've been trying to rest when he's resting just like you would when you have a baby. This is a really difficult time because he naturally wants to play and get out and he just can't. We take him out for breaks but when we do we're hyper vigilant and constantly nervous something bad is going to happen. :o( Our family really wants to thank all of you for caring. Some people we know have mentioned that if it were them, they'd put the dog down so they must be heartless. There's no way they'd spend a bunch of money on a dog or ask for help. They aren't heartless, but I don't think they can understand what it is like to love your pet so much, he or she is part of your family, until they've been there. To have those of you who understand give us get well wishes and do what you can to help, it's truly touching. We've gotten many wonderful and encouraging comments here and at flickr as well as emails. All of Vinny's furry friends are greatly appreiated. To those who could donate, we're very humbled and we mean it when we say we hope we can give back someday soon to help other animals & their people who are in a similiar spot. A big thank you to John and Tami. Without them, he would have never had his surgery. A humble thanks to Ali, Letta & Piggy. I've been very humbled by her kindness. She is a genuine person that cares. It seems we have quite a bit in common and I know if I met her on the streets we'd be friends. She also made Vinny's blog look great. You're the bomb! Please check out Alley Cat Designs for a new look for your blogger blog. You're too generous. Thank you to Andy of the Boston Photo Blog and to his two pups Bandit & Bo. We really appreciate your comments and spreading the message for us. Thank you Amber & her Boston baby Kyla. You're also an angel and I appreciate the nice emails. To my friend Kathy, girl your heart is gold. I know times are difficult for you too. Your advice and get well wishes are appreciated and we thank you. Thanks to Fallen Muse. I have no idea who you are, but we thank you for helping Vinny. Another big thank you goes to M of Sarcomical with Lucy, Ricky & Shiloh. I'm very touched that you'd come over and help Vinny. We can't thank you all enough. So far Vinny's fund has $125 to help with his care. I hope to hear back from the surgeon soon about how much future pin exchanges will be and I also hope to hear back from IMOM and The Pet Fund as well. Without all of Vinny's friends & supporters letting us know about these resources I'd feel lost. The vet said that his next visit for staple removal is covered, we just have to come up with funds for x-rays and pain medicaiton if it's needed. I'm going to talk to them about pet insurance too, to get an idea of it works and if it's an option even for us since he's already been in an accident. And another shout out goes to the flickr community who have offered support, given me great suggestions, and shared their own stories. You've answered my questions and I've learned quite a bit. One 9 week old Boston pup accidentally fell 5 ft when he leapt from his owners arms and fell down off a porch. He fractured both front legs on both sides of the bones! The vet said they had two options, put him down or attempt surgery. Now he's doing so well you'd never know he had BOTH legs broken. I'm so happy for them and hope the same for Vinny. Of course I don't mean to leave ANYONE out, and I'll keep making sure to give credit and thanks to you all. Vinny gives everyone snorts and kisses.

What a long day

It's wonderful having Vinny home now, but the hard works starts now. Here's a picture of him with one of the vets. My stupid camera sucks with shutter speed lately and lighting after it was dropped. Sorry for the quality, I don't have time to fiddle with my camera now. I'm going to try and get a quick update out before Vinners yells for me. It was such a long night. We picked him up at noon and he was doing great. The vet was true to his word, he was all licks and trying to put his head on us, which was impossible with this silly collar. They took the bandage off which makes me so nervous since he really tries to thrash around in his crate and I'm afraid he's going to aggravate the staples. He cried and moaned and whimpered the whole time in the car and he was literally going INSANE. Richard had to hold him by then, and really hold him good, I was a wreck thinking he'd hurt himself. We got home thinking he'd be better and he wasn't. We put him into the great after some lovings but then he peed. I've been removing the top of the crate so as not to take a chance in hurting him if he tries to fight or the collar has a hard time getting through the openng. It was also easier to rinse out that what. Waylon has a great like Vinny's older sister so I'm going to go check that out. I like that I can see him better that way. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. After he was carrying on some more mama got out her secret stash just to see if my piglet would respond. What is the secret stash you ask? CHEERIOS. :o) Not only did he want a cheerio but he wanted to devour my hand off. The poor little guy was STARVING. I gave him some servings of good and he was just devouring it, we didn't even have time to take his collar off to make it easier. He ate FOUR small bowls of food, I was concerned he'd throw up but he couldn't stop himself, he was famished. I called the vet to see when was the last time he ate and they said at 3 a.m and 8.am. Now, I can't help but wonder if that meant that was the ONLY time he ate since he was admitted on the evening of the 31st? Good lord, no wonder he was starving if so. Here you can see his funny new haircut (what's with the little mohawk strip?) and his pain patch. He drank really well too. I do think he IS doing really well and in fact I'm worried he's going to hurt his leg. He as trying to use his arms to grab Richard last night, like he always did. He was trying to chew on his, lean up to kiss us, do his little sassy growl at us, it's good to see him our in Vim, but he has to be calme! I suppose I'm just super over protective right now, I can't help it. But they didn't give me anything to sedate him. I'm going to ask the vet today when they call me back about that. His bottom also looks a little swollen. I'm not sure if the meds irritate his stool and that's why, but he's never had this problem before. He does have a pain patch though. He was putting some weight down on his arm when he ate or tried to walk a bit when we took him out. But he's only tried to walk, not go. I don't want him doing that, even though they said some light walking is OK, because he tries to stand up on his rear legs (he's on a leash) and what if he fel down on his leg? To me, that's close to jumping. Vinny, Vinny, Vinny. Maybe he should be called Evil Kienevil sp? He kept eating all night and again some this morning. He seems to prefer eating from MY hand or Jake's. Jake was so thrilled when Vinny reached out to give him his paw. Awww. He's also very THRISTY. I'm glad to see his appetite is good. I only take his collar off for very short periods because if I don't he tries to scratch it quite a bit with his good arm. But what he really wants is to put his head on us. I think he was one of the pups in the litter that laid on his brothers body, because he's always wanted to lay on you when he sleeps. Here's some pictures right after we got back home from the 4th of July weekend. He tried to limp over the stairs as he held his underside. I knew what he wanted. He wanted to sleep in his bed aka as our bed. We cuddled him and told him good-night. He wasn't happy at all of course. He woke up sometime in the middle of the night and then whimpered back to sleep. By 5.am he was bossing us around, as anyone would if they have gone to the bathroom in their bed. That was an interesting coorperation between Richard and I, since he had poop on his collar, nails, towel etc. He was already very stinky when he came home and shoowee, his Sylvester smells hideous, which Vinny thinks is great, the stinkier the better, right? But this morning he really broke my heart as he limped over to the bed as I held his belly and helped. He sat there right next to his side, like, "Mama, why can't I sleep on my bed?" Sniff. I let him up for about 2 minutes as he lay down and I gave him lovins' that had to put him back. That vet should call me back soon. **Update, the vet (a different one each time), suggested diaper cream for his bottom, he had loose stools before due to the antibiotics. She's checking to see if he might need a mild sedative and she also said slight walking is a good sign that his arm is doing better. We keep him from romping so that's good. I was just worried for him to use it at all. The next few months are so important in making sure his leg heals well. If all goes well, he should be jumping and running one day with just a %10 to %20 weakness in the bone. I think since he's a puppy it's a bit tricky, he's full of thunder, pistols, and friskiness. Talk too you all soon and thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

Vinny's Coming home

We just talked to the vet and they said that our Vinny Vin Vin can come home at around noon. Wow, I didn't think it would be so soon. I'm a little nervous and super excited all at once. Gosh, how we've missed him that last two days. The vet said that Vinners is doing well, he's almost doing too well, he's very active in his cage, more so then he'd like for a puppy with a fractured leg. He would like to have see him more calm and sedate like. I imagine they will send us home with pain meds and something to calm him. His arm is NOT in a cast, but its bandaged. (I'm thinking because they have to keep removing and reinserting pins over the next few months that cast is not going to work? They didn't go over that stuff with us before surgery, so I have a lot of questions.) When I heard how well he's doing I knew that we've done the right thing. A huge smile came to myself, I'm like a silly kid here. I think we're even more excited to bring him home then the first time! It's funny because I could totally picture him in this crate thing being a silly guy trying to get lovins' from all the vets. That's definately our Vinny. I want to say thank you to everyone that's been pulling for Vinny, that's prayed or given positive thoughts and for those that have been able to donate. Someone said they wish they could have sent more, but I can truly say the smallest donation helps. It's wonderful to know that people understand what we are going through and what it's like to love your pet so much you'd do anything you could to help them. I know that Vinny has made many dog buddies and we've enjoyed all the pictures we've been given so far. We are especially tickled by the Boston Terrier pictures. Bostons have truly captured our hearts and I can see so much of our own little Piglet in the antics of your Bostons. I do have hope today that our little guy is going to make a full recovery and be his super star self. I wanted to also thank all of you for the great suggestions and ideas. Ali shared with me a website about disabled dogs and other animals and how they live great full lives. I too believe that a "crippled" animal is worth saving and loving and having a home that cherishes him. For inspiring animal stories you can check out Rolling Dog Ranch. Going through the pictures and stories of the furry friends has helped us quite a bit. Other pets have made it through worse situations and are doing wonderful and I'm so glad that there's places like Rolling Dog Ranch that will pay for all the treatments those animals need and give them a wonderful home. I think that's a great place to donate too and I hope one day I can be able to do so after we get our Vinny on the healed path. I saw too many stories to share with you but the one about Oscar the wiener dog had me teary and smiling all together. My great Aunt had a wiener dog with three legs and he was such a clown and not hindered at all, I couldn't believe how fast he could run and how he could jump all over. Then there's Travis would a fused jaw. He's so beautiful and it seems he's living a good life now inspite of his issues. There's Pappy whom the Pappy Fund is named for. Bossy Birdie is inpiring too. Another wonderful person that's been involved in Boston Terrier rescue sent me information about IMOM You can apply with them to see about receiving help for the care of your pet. I might have never known about them had she not taken the time to email me. I also think it's really great that something like IMOM is out there. As far as I knew, there wasn't much one could do if their pet needed treatment that could help them but it was out of their finanical means. I'm learning quite a bit through this nightmare and I just want to pass on the kindess and knowledge I've been given. Bookmark that site if God forbid your furry baby should ever need care you can't afford. I made a long list of questions I have for the vet so I don't feel rushed or forget anything. And thank you to one of my best friends, who also bred Vinny, for doing his puppy shots; We're also saving quite a bit of money there. The vet also said everything went so well that the surgery came in at the estimate of $2900, which was paid for by my brother-in-law, his fiance, their cat (who has cancer), and their Jack Russell, Billy. Whew. Now we will take it one day at a time and hope that we can keep on top of vet bills for the future treatments. Thank you so much to all, I can't wait to go get him; I'm off to get ready and I'll take plenty of pictures. By the way, I'm sure my posts have had run on sentences, typos and the like but I've been too tired and scattered brain to care about checking. Excuse me for that, last night though I did finally get some sleep. Talk to you all soon, Melissa and Vinny