Hello! I’m Paton and I’m 8 years old. I was adopted at the age of 4 from Patas Errantes in Sintra. Although I was badly mistreated before I was adopted, my new owner and I have had lots of fun and shared many adventures. She takes me to the beach, on holiday, camping, out for dinner, and she doesn’t go anywhere without me. She often says that I help her more than she helps me. It’s the power of love. 🫶🏻 

She loves me so much that she took me to the vet to have a nasty-looking cyst removed from my elbow. It was supposed to be a simple operation, but they didn’t know I suffered from a condition called Addison’s disease. As soon as I was put under anaesthetic, my body went into shock and I nearly died. 

Desperate, my owner decided to fight for me and transfer me to the Arco do Cego veterinary hospital (Anicura), where I was admitted to intensive care for a week and had a plasma transfusion. The insurance covered part of the cost, but it wasn’t enough and the bill came to €2,000.

I finally managed to return home, but after a few days I started having severe nosebleeds and became anaemic. I had to undergo many tests: ultrasounds, bone marrow punctures and a whole series of blood tests. Although the results were negative, all the symptoms pointed to leishmaniasis, and as soon as I started taking medication, the bleeding stopped.

Meanwhile, the cyst that was removed turned out to be benign, but the skin around the area where it was removed died, leaving me with a large hole in my elbow.

After many attempts to stitch it up and constant infections, the vets decided to perform plastic surgery, taking skin from my back to cover my elbow and thus close the open wound. 

But now the new skin isn’t adhering to the subcutaneous tissue, and I run the risk of rejecting the tissue and not healing.

To stimulate tissue regeneration, the vets suggested treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, where oxygenation and pressure accelerate healing, reduce bacteria and lower the risk of infection. 

https://www.hospitaldaluz.pt/pt/dicionario-de-saude/oxigenoterapia-hiperbarica

The costs of all treatments and medication have already exceeded €5,000. But my owner doesn’t want to give up on me 💛

Following a consultation on animal rehabilitation and regeneration at the Arrábida Veterinary Hospitalhttps://vetarrabida.pt/, renowned for its work in the recovery of animals with serious injuries, the vets believe that 10 sessions in the hyperbaric chamber could help my skin to heal and reduce the (existing) infection. However, this treatment is very expensive. Each session costs €100, which means a total of €1,000. There are no guarantees that I will make a full recovery.

My owner is willing to pay whatever it takes but needs help to cover all the expenses she has incurred.

If you can help her with my recovery, I promise I’ll get better quickly and won’t give my owner any more scares like this 🙏 so we can carry on walking together on the beach.

Here are her details:

Mariana

MBway 910570774

NIB PT50 00 230 0004542437347194

Thank you

Paton