Companions in Crisis

Our Companions in Crisis program is working to provide financial aid to families unable to bear the high costs of cancer treatment, medication and rehabilitation.

It all started around the spring of 2008 when Buster Brown Alligood, an 8 year old Boxer, started coughing several times a day. At that time, the vet thought it might be a cold, so he was prescribed a cough medicine that he took for 7 days until the cough went away. Then 6 to 9 months passed and he started coughing again, more persistently.

On January 6, 2009 Buster Brown’s owners came home from work and everything appeared normal. A few minutes after he came back from being outside he began to cough and continued to cough for about a minute, and suddenly started coughing up blood.  By the time Buster Brown and his owners reached the vet’s office, the entire inside of their truck was covered in blood.  After several weeks and many tests, Buster Brown was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine carcinoma of the left lung, a disease that is rare in canines and potentially untreatable.

The upside for Buster Brown was a successful lung lobectomy on February 5^th, 2009 that was able to remove the tumor.  Though his owners were elated with the successful surgery, they were left with over $9000 in medical bills.  FETCH was able to assist with a good portion of the cost of the surgery with a grant from Companions in Crisis.  Today, Buster Brown is virtually back to normal.

If your family is in need, please download our financial aid form.