Frankie’s Friends’ Crucial Care Fund helped Taz receive a life-saving foreign body surgery at EPIC Specialty & Emergency Pet Care in Tampa & St. Petersburg, Florida.
“Thank you so much for helping our “grand doggie,” Taz! The first week after surgery was a bit tough on us “doggy grandparents,” who have had Taz all day while our son, Alexander, is at work and doesn’t get home until after 8 pm. In addition to Taz, we pick up our grandson after school and have him most nights. I work remotely, and am a caregiver for my husband, who has early onset Alzheimer’s and is recovering from his seventh heart attack just a few weeks ago.
The last thing we expected last week was that Taz would have found himself a rope toy while our son was at work, and proceeded to ingest it!
My husband and I were dog-sitting the next day when we realized Taz’s symptoms were accelerating, and he likely still had part of the toy in him. We brought him to the animal hospital who then confirmed the worst. Our hearts sank, and our son left work in a hurry. Our son is a single dad, living paycheck to paycheck, so the estimate of how much it would cost to save Taz seemed unattainable, and he and our 9-year-old grandson prepared themselves to say goodbye. Given our own medical bills and my husband’s recent stents, we were tapped out, too.
The staff, however, was wonderful and helped my son apply for a credit, but the truth is that not even that was going to be enough. Our son came to the sad conclusion, even though the prognosis after surgery was good, that Taz would need to be euthanized because the cost was still beyond his reach. Rather than experiencing what could be a very painful death from the obstruction and resulting sepsis, he told the staff that he would need to let Taz go.
Frankie’s Friends came to the rescue. Honestly, without you and the generous donors, we could not have decided to go forward with the surgery that night. One minute, our grandson was sobbing, thinking he was saying goodbye to Taz, and the next, we were on our way to the surgical center. My husband and I offered to take Taz so our grandson could get some sleep.
Taz came out of surgery groggy, with a huge incision in his belly, but otherwise positive. The linear obstruction and the toy piece were removed from his stomach and colon, and he was able to leave the following afternoon.
Fast forward a week, and Taz has regained his spirit and appetite, his stitches seemed to be healing, and he is hopefully well on his way to a 100% recovery.
On behalf of our entire family, thank you! We are all so very grateful that you made it possible for Taz to have a second chance! ”
