By AMY SMITH
UW News Lab
At the end of a veterinary visit, Gibson, a black-and-white Cairn Terrier-Shih Tzu mix, yawned. The purpose of the visit was to check out a red, cherry-like protrusion coming out of his eye. This chance yawn, and an alert veterinary specialist, may have saved Gibson from a painful death.
Emily Taibl, Gibson’s owner, said the vet saw a lump in the dog’s mouth. This led to a chest X-ray, two biopsies and eventually, a diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma, a common canine cancer.
The cost to diagnose 8-year-old Gibson added up to $3,000, said Taibl. It would take an additional $4,500 to treat the family pet, an amount the Taibl family found hard to afford in the current economic downturn.
“I was grasping at straws,” Taibl said when she stumbled across the Magic Bullet Fund website.
Laurie Kaplan, a longtime medical animal writer, started The Magic Bullet Fund in 2005 after her Siberian Husky dog, Bullet, survived canine lymphoma, according to the fund’s website.
At the urging of her dog’s oncologist, Kaplan wrote a book about her experience, “Help Your Dog Fight Cancer.” Amazon.com describes it as “a crash course on canine cancer, cover[ing] issues of prevention, diagnosis, treatment options, side effects, diet, supplements and home care.”
Kaplan wanted to donate the proceeds from the book to an organization that helps needy families pay for canine cancer treatment, but couldn’t find one. So she started her own. Since then, she said in an email, The Magic Bullet Fund has helped 167 dogs and their families through cancer treatment.
When Taibl applied to the fund she thought her application would go nowhere, but to her surprise, she heard back from the agency within three days, she said. After only a week, her case was posted on the website.
The application process can be done online. Taibl said that bank statements and pay stubs or tax returns must also be submitted, as well as information from your veterinarian.
“The two qualifiers that the MBF Review Committee looks at are the family’s degree of financial need, and the potential for adding a year of quality life for the dog with treatment,” Kaplan said.
Once accepted, The Magic Bullet Fund helps families establish a fundraising goal and starts them off with a launching gift from the agency’s general fund. The website hosts a donation page where people can read about the animals that need help and see photos.
“It really was so easy,” Taibl said, “I couldn’t believe it.”
The Taibls have collected almost half of their fundraising goals. They have until Feb. 17 to raise the remainder of funds.
So far, Gibson is doing well, Taibl said, although Gibson probably will lose his right eye, but if all goes right, “he will live two to four more years, a normal life expectancy” for dogs of his breed.
“I think that even people that aren’t having trouble financially should look at Laurie Kaplan’s book. It is a huge help and very informative,” Taibl said.
To make a donation or apply for assistance, visit: http://www.themagicbulletfund.org/index.shtml
