Diesel the Doberman

Diesel the Doberman needs your help. He is a service dog and best friend to his mom, Kristina. Kristina suffers from Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, and diabetes. Diesel is a remarkable service dog! He can alert Kristina when her blood sugar is too high or too low, he helps her up when she falls, he can he even sense when she is going to have a Lupus or MS flare up, days before it happens.

Diesel can even pull Kristina in a wheelchair when she is immobile! If Kristina is bedridden due to one of her illnesses, Diesel stays with her and will not leave her side.

On Tuesday, October 8th, Diesel was playing ball with his mom. He jumped up and landed the wrong way on his right-hind leg. He ended up with a spiral fracture on his right tibia.

Kristina brought Diesel to Linwood Animal Hospital where Diesel is a patient. X-rays revealed the break, and determined that Diesel would need major orthopedic surgery. Kristina cannot take care of herself, let alone help Diesel recover for 6-8 weeks. She was left to make a heartbreaking decision.

Kristina wanted to euthanize Diesel. She could not afford to do the surgery and she does not have the resources to help Diesel recover properly.

Diesel is six years old. He is a sweetheart and in otherwise good health. We urged Kristina to surrender Diesel to Linwood. This way he might still have a chance and not have to be put to sleep. Kristina thankfully agreed, and we proceeded to treat Diesel as a Linwood "pet."

Dr. McCarthy performed Diesel's orthopedic surgery on Thursday, October 10th. He placed pins and wires in Diesel's leg to stabilize his fracture. The surgery was very complicated and also revealed that Diesel suffers from Von Willebrand's disease - a blood clotting disorder found in dogs.

This discovery resulted in major blood loss during surgery. Diesel may have to have blood transfusions before he undergoes anymore surgeries.

We are hoping Diesel will not need another orthopedic surgery, but he managed to pull out his external fixator overnight. He had his "cone" on, but was able to Houdini his way out of that as well!

We want Diesel back with Kristina. His days as a service dog are not over, but he will not be able to go back to work in the capacity he did prior to his injury. The bond between these two goes way beyond that of a service dog and owner. Diesel is Kristina's family, her best friend, her caretaker.

The doctors and staff at Linwood are asking for your help to raise money for Diesel's medical, and rehabilitation costs. We are not sure if he will need another surgery, but if he does it will have to be done at another facility with an orthopedic specialist.

Any amount you can donate would be incredible. We are forever grateful to Kristina for letting us give Diesel a second chance. We want to thank her by returning Diesel to his home and to his mom.

Thank you for taking the time to read Diesel's story.

The Doctors and Staff of Linwood Animal Hospital, Diesel, and Kristina