OT: A Humble Request on Behalf of a Little Michigan Fan

Submitted by rob f on

My oldest daughter "Mo" asked me to share this with as many friends as possible:

https://www.gofundme.com/8f-udos-surgery-fund?ssid=841824986&pos=1

Her lovable little pooch "Udo", a Mini Dachshund, suffered a serious fall earlier this week and is essentially crippled unless he has spinal surgery. With surgery, his vet says he has a 95% chance of full recovery; w/o the surgery, Mo is facing the agonizing choice of settling for either "medical management" for her little man, with a small chance of full recovery, or else euthanasia, for this little big Michigan Fan.

Check out @Mgo13lueRob's Tweet: https://twitter.com/Mgo13lueRob/status/810159991684468738?s=09

Check out @Mgo13lueRob's Tweet: https://twitter.com/Mgo13lueRob/status/810160974401511424?s=09

Please help if any of you can, Mo and her hubby just got married 2 months ago and are unable to finance the surgery alone, and dad (rob f) is pretty tapped out after paying for my little girl's wedding in October (though I have promised as much financial help as it takes to get Udo his surgery. After all, I consider the little man to be my dog, too---he lived here for 7 years, until moving out with my daughter).

Any donation, regardless of amount, would be so greatly appreciated! (BTW, I did clear my post with a mod before making this request.)

Thanks in advance, MGoFriends!

-rob f

MGoBoard
Recruiting
Udo
pet surgery
Mini Dachshund
GoFundMe biggest little Michigan Fan

pendingperil

December 17th, 2016 at 1:01 PM ^

This will probably get negged, but I wish more people would buy pet insurance.  The monthly cost is pretty small and helps out immensely in times like these.  Seems unfair to the pet if you take them in knowing you can't pay out of pocket costs for serious health issues and don't at least buy some kind of insurance.  Good luck to the OP.

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NRK

December 17th, 2016 at 2:31 PM ^

Yes - I said this above. The out of pocket cost is low but even for the catastrophic only coverage it can be a world of difference.

 

My in laws had it, and twice it helped them afford to get their dog care at a relatively low cost (under $1,000 for multiple thousands of dollars of care). 

 

I think a lot of people don't know it exists, but just like regular health care for humans, it is worth it.

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titanfan11

December 17th, 2016 at 1:04 PM ^

to see how MM responds to those Salvation Army Santas asking for money when he goes grocery shopping?  Or those little leaguers asking for donations for new uniforms?  

 

 

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Gucci Mane

December 17th, 2016 at 1:17 PM ^

You all have the right to spend your money in any way you want....but this baffles me. You are paying for the surgery of a dog you don't even know ? I don't get it. There is a finite about of money to give away, and there are countless other causes in this world that seem more important to me.

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Sopwith

December 17th, 2016 at 1:39 PM ^

on a sustaining monthly basis and have never "met" any of the animals the money has gone to help. If there are causes that seem more important to you, donate to them as you see fit. I'll keep doing the same.

Rob: pitched in to help. The one thing I'd suggest having been through something similar is just to make sure your daughter is realistic about post-op prospects/quality of life and consider that sometimes letting go is more humane, but I'm sure they're considering it.

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gord

December 17th, 2016 at 1:32 PM ^

Seriously, how many good humans could use that money all over the world?  I have poor family members who I had to loan thousands of dollars to to get surguries in the past year.  It never occurred to me to ask people I don't know to pony up.  People are so naive about all the bad things going on in the world.  Must be nice.  Like you said, it's a dog and not even your dog.

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uminks

December 17th, 2016 at 1:42 PM ^

the dog is at mid life, so I don't mind if an owner would want to raise funds for an operation that would save its life. I actually like the fact of raising money through donations, rather than the owner falling into massive debt.  I've had friends who would spend 20,00-30,00, on cancer treatments for an older dog to live just another year or two, but I never criticized them even though I would never spend money to save an older pet.

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gord

December 17th, 2016 at 1:50 PM ^

I find this post offensive.  Are we bad if we question it's authenticity or importance?  Are we bad if we think there are other more important causes?

Upvote if you have human friends or family members that are struggling financially and could use a hand and would never go on a sports message board asking for help.

Downvote if everything in your life is perfect and you are unaware of human suffering and think this type of post is appropriate on a sports message board.

If we are going down this road of "I know these people who need a hand, can you help?" then the board will literally be nothig but gofundme posts.

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gord

December 17th, 2016 at 2:05 PM ^

I could start 2 gofundme pages right now.

I have an uncle on disability who gets $800 a month.  He rents a room for $500 which leaves him $10 a day for food and bills.  He had an impacted tooth and needed to come up with $500 which he didn't have.  I loaned him the money, I'll probably never get it back.  He was embarrassed he had to ask for it and tried to fight through the pain for a couple weeks.

I have a cousin who blew out his ACL.  I had to pay $2000 for his surgury.  He can't work for months so I'm covering all of his living expenses until he can get back to work.

I've loaned struggling family members over $100K over the past few years.  Yeah, they say they will pay me back but so far nothing. 

I'm sure a lot of people are going through the same types of problems.  They don't come on here asking for help since it's not the appropriate place.

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titanfan11

December 17th, 2016 at 2:15 PM ^

to help (and your seeming financial ability to do so) is great.  However, not everyone is able to do that (clearly, as you know firsthand).  

What some see as "the audacity to ask" can also be seen as being humble enough to ask for help.  While this is a sport blog, it is also a community for many people.  How about the where is Alum96 thread a few weeks back?  People were genuinely concerned, and I don't think it was just because they needed a recruiting fix with Swim Lanes.  

Rob wants to help his daughter, and his dog (you live with a dog for 7 days, 7 weeks, 7 years, who cares...it becomes your dog), so he came here.  Makes sense to me. 

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kalamazoo

December 17th, 2016 at 2:33 PM ^

Or he may be suggesting that family and close friends may be able to play a larger role first as he has taken on that responsibility with his family.

We haven't heard how much was raised through family and friends before coming to this blog. The poster himself said he would provide " as much financial help as it takes" to get the little guy his surgery.

Some people raise investment for anything (their own companies even) by first tapping friends and family and others go to outside investors first...always depends on individual personalities and needs.

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rob f

December 17th, 2016 at 3:07 PM ^

and other posts for at least partial clarification of your wrong assumptions, Tai. And I'll fill in some blanks for you and others who need more info. My daughter adopted Udo when he was approximately one year old. Udo is an otherwise healthy 9-year-old, the Dachshund breed has an average life expectancy of 14-17 years. She AND her hubby are newlyweds. Two months ago they started their marital journey. Yes, I already made a small donation thru GoFundMe, and I promised her as much as I possibly can to help fill in any gap between donations and her vet bill. ((BTW, 95% of donations go to the cause, the other 5% for administrative costs to GoFundMe, from what Mo told me). Unfortunately I'm unable to fund it all myself or I promise you all, I would have. As I'm about to go to work for some overtime right now, thanks to all who've posted with kind thoughts and ideas and suggestions and prayers, whether or not any donation was made. For the doubters and naysayers, also many good reasons were shared, too. I have a couple selfish motives for my OP, too. Mo adopted Udo just a couple months before my other daughter gave birth to my only grandchild. Udo lived here almost 7 years; my granddaughter about 7 1/2 years while her mom struggled to make ends meet as a single mother. I'm not about to apologize for my request, which was for my granddaughter as much as anything, she and Udo now live 50 miles from each other and he's the dog she adores. Selfish reason #2:. I kinda like him, too.

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taistreetsmyhero

December 17th, 2016 at 2:03 PM ^

My fiancé and I have wanted to get a dog for the last 4 years and could afford to buy one and feed it. But if it got sick it would ruin us financially. So we didn't. Personally, I think it's irresponsible to get a pet if you can't afford to take care of it when it gets sick.



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NRK

December 17th, 2016 at 2:25 PM ^

You can get pet insurance that covers a number of items, including catastrophic-only coverage that could really help out in the event of an emergency.

 

We've had it since we got our dog years ago, and thankfully never had to use it, but knowing that we'd be able to get him the care he needs in event of emergency is worth the $13 a month I think we pay.

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taistreetsmyhero

December 17th, 2016 at 2:29 PM ^

has the world's cutest aussiedoodle, but the poor guy is a sickly pupper. They take him to the vet for injuries, sicknesses, etc. probably 1-2 times a month, and there's no way I could afford those $100-200 bills every month. And insurance wouldn't help with that. He's obviously on the sick end of the spectrum, but I'm not going to get a dog until I'm as financially secure as she is.

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NRK

December 17th, 2016 at 2:46 PM ^

I'm sorry to hear that - and I can see what you're saying if that's your experience. That is definitely a big financial commitment.

I think our YEARLY vet bill is maybe around $400 total - we've been blessed with a healthy dog that doesn't have too many problems.  He probably goes to the vet 2-3 times a year. So it definitely can vary by dog, but you likely won't know that until you've already got teh dog.

 

We use VPI (now it appears its Nationwide) - they do have full coverage that runs about $65 a month it looks like. They might want to look into it: http://www.petinsurance.com/dog-insurance

 

We only carry accident/injury in case he needs an emergency so I don't know how good that above coverage is, but I do know family members have used the accident/injury.

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Gucci Mane

December 17th, 2016 at 2:32 PM ^

As someone who has farming experience....when an animal is sick or injured beyond a reasonable recovery, you put it down. I was around hundreds of animals daily....fixing all of them is not an option. Unless your religion is worshipping dogs, where the hell did this idea you need to treat them like a human come from ?

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taistreetsmyhero

December 17th, 2016 at 2:38 PM ^

and it eats something, or it hurts its leg fetching the stick you just threw, you better be able to afford the vet bill for whatever it takes to make it better.

If you can't afford an emergency trip to the vet for an x-ray or poison controll or whatever, you should not own a pet.

But really this post just rubs me the wrong way because OP says he will pay for it in the end, which means he can afford the money. So he's just asking for hand outs on this, which is audacious as hell.

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rob f

December 17th, 2016 at 3:22 PM ^

I CAN'T afford it. But for my girls, I'll make further sacrifices if necessary. Just paid for her wedding, as you might figure from my response a few minutes ago. Supported to a large extent my other daughter and especially my grandchild for several years until that daughter could make a go of it independently. Add in a few other setbacks and a divorce, and boom! I'm not wealthy financially. Instead I count my blessings in other ways. But like I said before, no apologies for posting the OP.

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xtramelanin

December 17th, 2016 at 5:17 PM ^

and have hundreds of animals.  none of them would receive this treatment.  however, our k-9 is a more significant member of the family, far less important than humans, but worthy of some money to rehab if/when that time comes. 

my old bird dog was a phenom in the home and in the field.  he got cancer at age 8.   we got it cleaned up some, but the expenditure of money, the radical nature of the surgery, and the huge loss of quality of life (though he'd have still been alive for a while) led us to do palliative care after that.  we put him down when we knew he was suffering significantly.  it's a choice many pet owners face, and it's much different than how we manage our livestock.  

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Steve in PA

December 17th, 2016 at 2:06 PM ^

I wish you nothing but success in your goal.

My rescue dog had 2 TTA surgeries and a meniscus repair in the last 2 years.  She turned 7 this year and to be honest I forgot what it was like to have a dog that could run until last summer.  She loves to run and chasing rabbits is what got her into trouble.  Her tears were the human equivalent of ACL tears.  She's fine now and running again.

I could never understand people that spend a lot on surgeries for their pet but I am now in the club.  Had she not been young I probably wouldn't have done it.  I've spent less on several cars over the years.

My dog is just like Drake Johnson and hopefully he gets to run again too.

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