In Wigan, England, Jaxon Feeley’s two-year-old Weimaraner, named Rambo, became seriously ill late last month. Most pet owners either have pet insurance or are able to raise the funds needed to treat their beloved pets and are willing to go into debt in order to save their four-legged friends. But what happens when the vet bills and care become astronomical?
On a Friday evening, Jaxon’s dog became violently ill with gastroenteritis leading into hypovolemic shock; spending days in the emergency veterinarian hospital. Her bills quickly mounted up; even though Feeley had pet insurance, Rambo had already maxed out the allowable payments.
She began vomiting throuhout the night over 30 times and by Saturday morning we were in the emergency vets.
Jaxon Feeley
Throughout the week Rambo continued to vomit and instead of coming out her mouth, fluid was going back down and into her lungs which resulted in a lung infection; fluid collected around the the area. Rambo suffered with severe pneumonia, and one lung had collapsed.
Then came the possibility of an abscess forming on the dog’s lung which would have required major surgery to remove. Vets were not able to assess whether this would be case, but hopefully Rambo would respond to treatment. The risk of Rambo dying was clearly in her owner’s mind.
Between the costs of Rambo being in intensive care and the possibility she would be needing surgery, Feeney panicked about not having enough money to care for Rambo, but never once did he consider not giving his dog the best chances for her survival with the specialized care she had been receiving. Estimates for her care had climbed to more than $20,000, however Feeney said he would stop at nothing to help his dog, and if push came to shove, he would sell his house.
There was no way in hell i was ever going to give up on this gorgeous girl; she is just a little baby, with a want to live and be happy with her big brother rocky and the feeleys.
GoFundMe
But thanks to the generosity of strangers, a GoFundMe account raised more than $34,000. People were moved by the story, and Jaxon’s heartfelt devotion to his dog.
Rambo’s update:
Rambo has been doing amazingly well over the last week, she has had a few episodes of being sick and gets exhausted really quickly but overall she is an absolute beast and is smashing it. a lot of her medication ended this weekend so she requires even closer monitoring than the 24/7 care she was already receiving as we aren’t sure how her body is going to react to coming off all of this, but sleeping on the floor next to her and monitoring her every breath is no trouble to just have her home.
Rambo isn’t out of the woods yet but she is giving it a damn good go like the Feeley she is. Back to biting Rocky’s legs and pinching his last bit of food! Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers because she is going to come out fighting. again I can’t thank everyone enough for checking in and sending so much love and support, I know not everyone may understand how important dogs are in someone’s life but in this case these 2 hounds are my children, my little hero’s and are more precious to me than anything x
Jaxon
No doubt Rambo made news around the world. You might not understand the languages, but I’m sure you get the gist of the short video:
https://www.facebook.com/jaxryderfeeley/videos/2438285692987891
Many thanks from Jaxon and for everyone’s love, support and donations during the last few weeks.
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