Everyone who has ever had a veterinary emergency with their beloved, four-legged best friend knows both how pricey and how gut-wrenching the entire experience is.
So when one doggie dad faced veterinary expenditures reaching just shy of $24,000, he said he was willing to go to unusual measures to keep his baby girl alive.
Jaxon is the dad of a two-year-old Weimaraner named Rambo. For reasons that are still unknown, Rambo fell into hypovolemic shock, which means her heart was unable to pump blood to the rest of her body. Not only that, but she also suffered gastroenteritis, or a stomach flu.
“She began vomiting throughout the night over 30 times and by Saturday am we were in the emergency vets,” said Rambo’s dad.
As you may have guessed, this caused her health to worsen rapidly, and they weren’t sure how long she’d have to be in emergency care. On top of hypovolemic shock and gastrointestinal issues, fluids started leaking into her lungs, and she got pneumonia. One of her lungs even collapsed.
Being at the emergency vet under 24/7 surveillance is ultimately what saved her life but it cost over £1000 ($1200 USD) per day to be under their care. Rambo’s insurance would cover her up to £6500 ($7,800), but her cost was already at £11,500 ($13,800) after only a single week in their care.
So Jaxon launched a gofundme page to try to get funds for Rambo’s crucial care. He even indicated that he was willing to ‘sell his house.’
“If the worst happens and Rambo requires significant surgery, the cost of this as well as the aftercare is something I need to be able to provide my beautiful baby girl,” added Jaxon.
Her dad got so frightened that he started sleeping in his car that he parked near the vet, so that he wouldn’t be too far from his darling baby girl. But not only did more than 600 individuals donate, with the total raised already reaching £10,000 ($12,000), Rambo reacted to less intrusive therapies, and they were able to skip surgery altogether.
“My little angel is by no means completely better, it will be a long road to recovery for her and she still requires 24/7 observation at this time along with a large dose of medication. Nonetheless, we did what we said we would, we came home,” stated Jaxon.
Due to all the love, support, and outstanding treatment, Rambo started to make a miraculous recovery. After two long weeks, she was finally able to leave the hospital and travel home with her adoring dad.
Supermarket in Finland welcomes dogs, with special carts for canine customers
The grocery store in the Finnish city of Tampere even has an official golden retriever who tests out dog treats and shares the results in Instagram videos.
A ‘su-paw-market’ in Finland is welcoming canine customers, with specially-adapted carts which allow dog owners to bring their pooches grocery shopping.
The Kesko grocery chain in the city of Tampere has introduced the “Koirakärry” – dog cart – as a way to welcome in more dog-owning customers at one of its stores, where usually only service animals would be permitted inside the aisles.
“The idea is already used in some countries, but not in Finland, and we have a lot of dog owners nearby,” explains Matilda Tistelgren, who has been operating the supermarket with her partner Joona Pesonen since the spring.
“We have a golden retriever ourselves, and if we go out jogging with the dog and forget something from the store, we don’t want to go home, leave the dog, then have to return to the store ourselves, we want to be able to take the dog with us,” Matilda tells Euronews.
The carts have a dog bed in the bottom, and a clip for leads or harnesses, with owners encouraged to pick up their pups and put them inside – although a future version of the cart might include a small ramp so the dogs can walk in unaided.
Since taking over the management of the supermarket in Tampere’s neighbourhood Kissanmaa – which funnily enough translates as “Cat’s Land” – Matilda and Joona have introduced other pet-friendly innovations.
The couple’s own retriever Tove appears on Instagram with ‘Tove Tastes’ videos where she samples different dog treats.
“Our customers love it,” exclaims Matilda. “In this part of town we have a lot of dog owners and that means a lot of dog customers too, and we already have a lot of hairy regulars,” she adds.
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