Chancho

Chancho is a 4 1/2 old white chihuahua. He has been a part of our family since he was about 8 weeks old. We rescued him from a lady who could not keep him. He was not being fed properly or cared for the right way. We also took in his brother Tank. Tank is a brown chihuahua. Chancho is very special and a very smart dog. He is great with kids and loves to play and run around. He is especially attached to my sister (his owner) Carissa. My sisters husband has even considered getting a tattoo of Chancho, because they love him that much! Sometimes during the winter we get snow and you would never think a tiny little dog like him would love to play in it so much, but he does. He is very protective of the kids, and his home. He loves to cuddle. When he gets really excited he shakes with excitement. He loves to give doggy kisses and be snuggled with. My sister had a baby boy back in 2008 and we were all concerned how he would react to the new addition. Chancho has always been the center of attention in their home and we were worried he may get nippy and not accept the baby. We were so wrong. Chancho loves Damien so much and enjoys playing with him. My sister recently had another child named Katelyn in February and he has taken to her very well.

In early February something horrible happened to Chancho. He got into a fight with a bigger dog and it caused his eye to pop out of its socket and get extremely infected. We rushed him to a 24 hour emergency vet service. They were unsure if they were going to be able to save his eye. They had said they could put it back into the socket and attempt to repair it so he would have some vision but it would cost over $1500.00. That is something we could not afford. We spoke with the doctor and he told us about another procedure that could be done but he couldn't guarantee he would gain his sight back. He did a procedure which cut his eye socket, and placed his eye back in it. He then stitched his eye closed and gave special ointment to be applied three times a day. He also had to wear one of those cones so he wouldn't scratch the stitches out or tear them open. Chancho has not been the same since. He is very depressed and is not doing well. We recently took him back into the vet and they removed his stitches and his eye is not doing very well. It is infected and pointed to the right. So he will no longer have any vision in his eye. He is very sick due to the infection and the only way to save him is to remove his eye. This is something we did not want to do. We wanted to try our hardest to get him the best care possible so he can be back to the Chancho we all love and adore, and unfortunately that will not be happening.

He needs to have his eye removed as soon as possible and the doctor is estimating it to be over a $1000.00. We cannot afford that, but we also do not want to lose the dog that has become such an important part of our family. That would be devastating. The pink lid that covers the eye will not retract and it will always stay like that. His eye would never straighten out, and due to it being infected we have no choice but to have it removed. He is having a very hard time with only having one eye. He bumps into things and cannot walk straight. He also has just fallen into a depression because he cannot be outside with his brother, Tank. The procedure needs to be done as soon as possible, but with the lack of funds we have and the vet not being able to work with us on payments because it is such a large amount we are at a loss of what to do. So I decided to set up a donation site/blog. I would hate to lose him, and it would devastate our whole family.

I am asking everyone to please if you can to donate anything you can. If it be a $1.o0 or $10.oo it would be greatly appreciated. I know in these tough times and with the economy being so bad that a lot of people will not be able to help us. But I am asking, and begging you to please help me save Chancho. I would rather him have one eye, then have to put him down. This all needs to be done as soon as possible. He has a check-up soon and they are very costly. He is now on antibiotics and is still continuing to use the ointment. The antibiotics are trying to fight the infection that has been caused by his eye. There isn't much we can do unless he gets the surgery.

I will be adding pictures of Chancho before the accident and after the accident. I also have a paypal account set up to accept donations of any amount to help with the cost of the surgery. Anyone who is willing to donate will get a personalized card mailed to them with a picture of Chancho and a thank you note and card. Anything would be greatly appreciated. I will continue to update this blog with pictures and donation information regarding Chancho.

Thank you,
Cher