On February 8th we got a call from Kevin’s dad stating he had been to a friend’s house and saw a puppy he just couldn’t leave behind. Phil explained that the puppy was living in a cramped second story apartment, had never set foot outside at 11 weeks old, had a strange growth on its eye complete with hair, covered in fleas and had no vet care at all.
He asked the owner if she was going to take him to the vet to see what could be done with his eye and she said she couldn’t afford to pay for puppy food let alone a vet bill. Phil knew that puppy needed a better life and asked to take him home. She agreed. That night Kevin and I met him and from the moment he ran right up to us we were in love and we took him home that night.
The next morning, I took him to our vet, and she said that in 20 years she has never seen a growth directly on the dog’s eye like this. Of course, now I’m panicking so I left and immediately called Cornell to see what could be done. They told me the soonest appointment they had was June so I had my vet call and still they couldn’t get us in until the end of May.
The following day I called Cornell back, doing my best to urge for sooner help for Jake. I explained the situation to the receptionist and the urgency of the condition. She put me on hold for a long while until finally the next voice I heard on the phone was the vet optometrist. I explained to her my concerns and she asked me to email her pictures of Jake’s eye. Shortly after, she replied that she could get me in at the beginning of April! I learned from her that Jake has a dermoid and it needs to be removed sooner rather than later. The surgery will cost $2000. I can send pictures of his dermoid (growth) if anyone wants to see why he needs this surgery ❤️
I learned from investigating and research that Jake is what is called a double Merle. For those who don’t know, a double merle is a genetic trait that is caused when both the parents of the pup pass on the same merle gene. Double merles will most often have vision and hearing problems.
Besides the growth on his left eye, his vision seems to be good; however, it is obvious that there is something wrong with his hearing. We have concluded that he is almost completely deaf. It is truly fate that Jake has come into our lives as I have experience with deaf dogs and we have started training him with sign language.
He is so smart and he is adapting very well. I have started this gofundmebecause Jake deserves the best quality of life and the surgery to get the growth on his eye removed is just too great for Kevin and me to pay ourselves. Any help would truly make a difference in Jake’s life.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
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