The kindest, sweetest, quietest, gentlest, most discreet and most affectionate little dog in the world, Socrates, has a malignant tumour (cancer). He urgently needs to undergo a full-body CT scan to determine the location, size and extent of the tumour, and whether and where it has metastasised, followed by surgery to remove the tumour in order to save his life. The tumour is located on and within the muscles of the armpit (it is the mass I am pressing with my hand in the photograph; it is not a skin tumour, and we do not know how deep it extends), behind the left front leg and next to the chest. As many doctors have informed me, amputation is likely to be necessary, in addition to the removal of muscle and soft tissue: because the area must be cleared sufficiently to ensure no cancer cells remain, and because, as the Veterinary Clinic of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki informed me, the bones of a limb, even if they themselves are not affected, cannot remain in the body without their muscle groups if these need to be removed.

The amputation may involve the entire leg, the shoulder blade, and/or part of the ribcage; no one can tell me for certain yet. It will become clear from the CT scan and during the operation, as I have been informed.The costs are €400–500 for the CT scan, €200 for the biopsy (which is needed to determine the type of malignancy and how aggressive it is); we do not yet know the exact cost of the surgery because the extent of the lesion must first be determined. The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki told me that such an operation starts at €600 and, if amputation is required, the cost could increase significantly.I am attaching the correspondence with the vets at Vets4life in Pikermi, Attica, who specialise in oncology cases and have given me an estimated initial cost.

The total amount required for his treatment depends on: the stage of the cancer, the type of surgery to be performed, whether a second operation will be necessary, whether amputation will be required, how much chemotherapy will be required, whether hospitalisation will be needed and for how many days.

This fundraising page will be updated immediately with any developments and new information.

The animal’s guardian, who has been part of his family for ten years and is facing painful health issues and mobility difficulties, is unable to raise these funds within the very short timeframe in which they are urgently needed. However , the need to treat the cancer is urgent. It is not in the final stages, and so there is significant hope for his recovery with appropriate treatment.

I am attaching links to the cytology and ultrasound reports, which indicated the presence of a malignant tumour.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/4fy3q82eqqprrf6/ΥΠΕΡΗΧΟΣ-10-02-2026-Σωκράτης.pdf/file

and

https://www.mediafire.com/file/x9lr3ijr71bkivt/17796-17023--ΣΩΚΡΑΤΗΣ-κυτταρολογικος11_2_2026_+(1).PDF/file

Whatever amount you’d like to donate, however small, can make a difference.

For anyone interested:

Iris: telephone 6907892956; there is no charge to the sender for depositing any amount.

Revolut: You can send money by following this link: revolut.me/alex_swkraths. There are no fees for sending any amount for Revolut users, and there are no fees for deposits made from any debit card issued by any Greek bank.

IBAN: GR1101102480000024800266702, with no transfer fees for any amount from National Bank of Greece account holders.

Finally, anyone can make an anonymous donation here by clicking on ‘Donate’.

I am obliged to provide my own details because, despite my repeated requests for their details from the doctors mentioned above, they have informed me that they are unable to provide their own IBAN for the deposit of small individual amounts from members of the public each time.

For any questions, clarifications, evidence, words of support, or your own experience with a similar incident that you would like to share—and which I very much need at this moment—please call 6907892956. As I have never undertaken such a process before, I would really appreciate it if you could let me know if you encounter any problems during the fundraising process.

Please do let me know if you know of any clinics with veterinary oncologists anywhere in Greece that treat

oncological cases at a lower cost or free of charge, because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find anyone in Greece. I contacted the vets4life clinic in Pikermi because it was recommended to me as one that treats oncological cases (one of the few in Attica and in Greece in general) and because the other clinics that perform such surgeries, from what I’ve been told, are just as expensive or much more so.

Thank you to everyone who has read this and to those who will help us.

Alexandra

First update:

With everyone’s help, Socrates was able to have the CT scan. The results are below, uploaded to Mediafire. To our great relief, we saw that there has been no metastasis to the lungs or the regional lymph nodes, which were our greatest fears. A very slight doubt remains regarding the liver. Surgery to remove the tumour is urgent. The two documents below (“Socrates report” and “Report4”) contain the doctors’ findings from the CT scan and their cost estimates for the procedures that must be carried out immediately: surgical removal of the mass, biopsy (these two procedures are estimated to cost around €800–900), liver biopsy (to determine the nature of the lesion and rule out metastatic disease) and, additionally, chemotherapy in a less likely scenario, depending on the type of sarcoma revealed by the biopsy. The other two documents contain his blood test results. The CT scan and these tests (totalling €480) were carried out thanks to the interest, contributions and shares of all the people who cared for my beloved pet, and I cannot thank them enough.

I’ve posted them on the MediaFire links as there’s no option to upload files here:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/qrsfkj5tsgmclsl/σωκράτης+report.pdf/file

https://www.mediafire.com/file/xkdzahikki3pemi/86918-250226135949-Results-A14646-2026020025135100.pdf/file

https://www.mediafire.com/file/ifas9bt1vffpezk/Report+(4).pdf/file

https://www.mediafire.com/file/qxrbmoxvgim58p3/86918-250226140017-SOKRATIS--2026-02-25-1359.pdf/file

Update 2. Thanks to everyone’s support, Socrates managed to undergo surgery to remove the tumour – that is, the part they thought they could remove from where the tumour was located. Here is the biopsy report, i.e. the characterisation of the mass and its risk level (select it to turn blue and the link to the document will open):

https://www.mediafire.com/file/nrfvwd8o2lcrz49/VP32655-18390-ΚΑΛΛΙΤΣΗ+ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΑ-ΣΩΚΡΑΤΗΣ-16_3_2026_0520000_1.PDF/file

As it is stage three, the removal was performed with narrow margins, i.e. very close to the affected tissue, and due to the characteristics of the sarcoma, which is locally persistent and has a tendency to recur, as I was told, it is considered necessary to also undergo electrochemotherapy, a type of chemotherapy. This involves the local administration, at the site where the tumour was and where cancer cells may still remain, of chemotherapeutic drugs using electrical pulses. The cost of this is high, as it is for all forms of chemotherapy; they are asking for €300 per session, and at least three sessions are required.

I would like to thank you all for supporting this fight and for the efforts we have made, thanks to all of you.

I would like to clarify that the amount of donations you see here is what has been donated from the start of the fundraiser until now, and it is listed here on 4fund even though I have already withdrawn all of it.

P.S.

As some people have suggested I contact animal welfare organisations, I would like to clarify that I have approached many of them and that animal welfare organisations, in turn, rely on the support of the wider community; each one has thousands of strays to care for, meaning they cannot cover the substantial medical costs, let alone those of the owners, and this was the standard response I received from the animal welfare organisations.