FaithBark Inc

We received a referral to a dermatology specialist three hours away. Once they ran their own biopsies, skin cell checks, and blood work they found out the cause. Stinky has Vasculitis, a rare auto-immune disease, which means his blood vessels are inflamed and his body is attacking itself. Our vet had not seen it attack a dog’s nose before so she is assuming it is a different strain of Vasculitis than she was familiar with.

We started on a round of anti-inflamitories, antibiotics, and steroids to fight it. This first vet visit caused me to miss two days of work, gasoline to drive eight hours, paying for a hotel room so we could stay over night to do a biopsy, and $1,500 for the visit (surgery, initial vet visit, and medicines). We agreed on coming every other month, but even then I knew I would not be able to pay for much more if the prices were going to be so steep. I was recently a college graduate getting paid minimum wage and paying bills and student loans. I started looking into ways to help pay for bills, as I didn’t really like the appeal of a gofundme, I wanted to be backed by a foundation that proved I needed the assistance.

I was denied by a few 501s because of how long ago I adopted Stinky, but then Bandit’s Bandaid approved us. Thankfully they did because not even a month later I had to rush Stinky to the ER. He had somehow caught a fungal infection (Aspergillosis) and bronchitis within the month we were away from the vet. I knew something was wrong when I woke up to take everyone out to go potty and he was still lying in the area he was sleeping in the night before. Usually he runs to the door and bites at my legs as I put his leash on. I knew something wasn’t right, so I took him out first and carried him down. He stood for a few seconds then fell over and seemed to have hard time breathing. I frantically called Carol Young and Cheryl Justice of Bandit’s Bandaid to see if we had enough funds to take him to the ER and they said ‘yes, go!’. So with their reassurance I raced to the ER and got Stinky there just in time. The vets said that he would not have made it much longer. Our dermatologist said that the wounds reached past the last layer of his dermis, which was pretty serious. She was even confused as to why the Vasculitis was flaring up so much. Therefore the lab that tested for cultures kept Stink’s for a bit longer because they felt something was not right as well. About three weeks later the lab called and reported that Stinky had Aspergillosis and that they finally caught it under light mutating. So we were now fighting Vasculitis, Bronchitis, and Aspergillosis. Stinky was taking five pills three times a day every day.

Fast-forward to about December which is half way through Stinky Allen’s treatment for Aspergillosis (he had to take the fungal medication for at least six months). Finally we began seeing so many improvements. He fur was growing back in areas that were scarred. His wounds were all healed up, his nose healed and he started getting black back on his nose!! We were so relieved to see him getting back into his normal routine of bossing the other dogs and making sure he inhaled all his food and everyone else’s when they weren’t looking! Now fast-forward once again to February. Stinky had his last test for Aspergillosis and it came back cleared. The labs kept it for a week or two longer just to make sure. ☺ Stinky has now as of March 2016 been completely off medication and in remission for over 6 months!

Without Bandit’s Bandaid, this story would never have been written. My dog would have been put down because I didn’t have the money at the time. Without Bandit’s Bandaid, I would not be able to hold my dog at night and tell him how much I love him. I prayed endlessly for nights on end that God would help me find a way to save my Stinky and he truly sent us a Guardian Angel for not only my Stinky boy but for me as well. So thank you so much. Thank you to Bandit’s Bandaid for this amazing foundation.