Coco’s Story...

Coco is a Chocolate Lab born on October 10, 2009. He was a very hyper and loveable puppy, always excited to see you come home. He loved to play with other dogs and enjoyed going for training. Coco was a puppy that would never sit down or take a nap if there were people around because he didn’t want to miss anything.

In the month of July, I came home from work to find Coco limping to the door to greet me. I took him to the vet right away. I took him back the next day for x-rays to find out that he had elbow dysplasia. He was referred to VEC (Veterinary Emergency Clinic) to see a surgeon. Coco had to undergo surgery on both his elbows in August to fix the problem. The surgery went great!

During Coco’s physio sessions to strengthen his front legs, we noticed he was having problems with his right knee. His right knee was giving out on him once in awhile. We later found out that he was having problems with his knee because he had a luxating patella. At the time his knee wasn’t too bad so the surgeon said it would be ok to wait for the surgery because of the amount of money that was just spend on his first surgery. We agreed to wait awhile until the funds came in to do his knee surgery. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case, a few weeks passed while Coco’s knee just kept getting worse. The surgeon was getting concerned just as much as I was because the longer we wait the more damage that can be done. This is where the problem came, I had just spent so much money on his first surgery and physio that my pet insurance didn’t cover; that I didn’t have the money to allow Coco to get his knee surgery done. As a pet owner I felt horrible that I couldn’t help my pet that was now suffering with all these different injuries and I wasn’t getting any help from my pet insurance.

A staff member who worked at VEC was letting us know the estimate cost that his knee surgery would be and I broke down. I couldn’t believe that my puppy not even a yr old had to go for another operation that I couldn’t cover. She told us about CAWF (Companion Animal Wellness Foundation), a foundation that helps out families that are unable to pay for their pets’ surgery. I was so relieved to hear the news, but still very nervous because it wasn’t a confirmed yes. The next day I called the foundation and told them about my situation and provided them with all of my documentation to demonstrate that I qualified - within a day I was called back and told that CAWF would help to fund Coco’s  surgery.

My family and I are so thankful for all the help CAWF provided in allowing Coco to have his surgery so that he could live pain free and continue to grow into the loving dog he is today. CAWF has helped us in so many ways, words can’t describe. We thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts for helping Coco to get better and allow him to be happy with his family today. Thank you!

-Fyana C.