Dog owner facing astronomical vet bills says he will ‘sell his house’ in desperate bid to keep his beloved dog alive

Jaxon Feeley says he will do anything to save his 2-year-old Weimaraner, Rambo. That includes selling his house to pay the staggering $24,000 he now owes the vet after the beloved dog went into hypovolemic shock. This condition is life-threatening as it is brought on by severe blood or other fluid loss. This results in the heart not being unable to pump blood through the body effectively.

The pet owner who clearly loves his dog said: “She began vomiting throughout the night over 30 times and by Saturday morning we were in the emergency vet.” On top of all the already existing drama, the poor pup contracted stomach flu. Better known as gastroenteritis which caused a steady decline in her overall health.

Rambo spent 10 days in intensive care

Feeley works as a local prison officer in Wigan in the UK. He’s started a Go-Fund-Me page in a plea to the community to help him save his pet and best friend. The treatment was very costly and his insurance just didn’t cover enough. “Rambo’s insurance has covered her up to £6500. Her bill is now up to £11,500 after 1 week in care.” He said.

“It is unknown how long Rambo will need to stay at the vets and intensive care costs are approximately £1000 per day. If the worst happens and Rambo requires major surgery, the cost of this as well as the aftercare is something I need to be able to give my little baby girl.” He continued.

The first week of treatment saw Rambo raking up massive vet bills

Poor Rambo was vomiting in the first week of treatment which resulted in a massive pooling of fluid in her lungs. She thereafter developed an infection in her lungs which caused a further decline in her health. The infection turned into pneumonia and one lung collapsed. Mr. Feeley said: “In the vet’s words, Rambo could not have been any more unlucky with what has happened.”

“The initial cause is still unknown but the position Rambo is in now has resulted in her being in intensive care under 24/7 observation. The vets are now continuously attempting to drain Rambo’s lungs and monitoring the infection within. Whilst assessing the level of bacteria in the fluid which is being drained out. Due to all of the medication she is now on Rambo is still vomiting and hasn’t eaten any food herself for a week.”

Read: 10 Times People had to Choose their Pet Over Their Partners and How It Went

Things didn’t seem to be looking any better yet for the pup

“The worry is that there is now a possibility an abscess has formed on Rambo’s lung which would require major surgery to remove. Vets cannot assess whether this is the case or not for a few days whilst Rambo hopefully begins to respond to treatment. However, if it is, which is my biggest fear, the risk to Rambo’s life is significant. I could never forgive myself if I couldn’t give her the best fighting chance to pull through this horrendous situation.” He said.

More than 600 people have donated toward Rambo’s vet bills

Mr. Feeley is sleeping in his car outside the practice to make sure he’s close at all times. He has said that the vet bills have reached a staggering $24,000. The community has pulled through miraculously, donating over $12,000 to her care. It just shows you – to ask the right people, and help could be on its way.

It seems a miracle has happened after all

An update has since been shared with some rather miraculous news. The pup has returned home after ‘pulling off a miracle.’ He said: “Over the last 3 days, Rambo has pulled off a miracle, hour by hour she has increased her oxygen efficiency, started eating and drinking, her lungs are slowly recovering and we started to see that beautiful little personality resurface.”

“She got herself into a little routine of seeing me for 10 minutes every 4 hours that she even knew what corner of the waiting room to find me in.” He added: “After doing every test under the sun and assessing her incredible progress over the last few days, the team of staff at the vets have been gobsmacked by the power of love, presence and true fight for life.”

The pair have headed home together

“When they told me she could go home I was nothing short of s* myself and in all honesty I still am. Can I keep her ok? What if I miss something? My little angel is by no means all better, it will be a long road to recovery for her and she still requires 24/7 observation at this point along with a significant amount of medication. However, we did what we said we would, we came home.” The proud owner continued.

“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. There are no words to express how grateful I am for everyone’s love, support & donations over the last 2 weeks. It genuinely means more than you will ever know.” We truly hope that Rambo and Jaxon have many more years together as this man clearly loves his dog.

There is help out there for pet owners if you end up raking up a massive vet bill

There are now credit cards available that are health-specific. If you find yourself head over heels for vet bills, Care Credit offers healthcare financing which can be used for both people and animal medical treatments. The credit system applies based on your credit score, so bad debt generally won’t count in your favor.

Another payment plan option is Scratch Pay. They offer an online payment option. They don’t rely on your overall credit score, so many more pet parents would qualify. The vet clinic must be registered with Scratch Pay to qualify though so always make sure to check this with them in advance.

There are also many other options such as loans, crowdfunding, and even charities which may be able to help. It’s also wise to shop around for pet medications if these reach higher prices as some pharmacies are cheaper than others. Chewy is a good example. They offer very good pricing on a variety of medications and treatments. GoodRx is a loyalty card that some pharmacies accept for further product discounts.

The final and probably most vital is pet insurance. Similar to human health insurance, they offer options like accident-only and accident and illness packages. If you don’t have anything saved up for sudden emergencies, this would be a very good option for you as they offer a wallet of savings for these situations. Always make sure to read the fine print, though, as not all packages are equal, and some require payment upfront and submittal of a claim thereafter.

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