Family face $40,000 vet bill after dog ravaged by common garden threat to pets
Lauren and Josh Stevens were told their dog Oscar is in a 'critical' condition in the vet hospital.
A family are facing $40,000 in vet bills without the certainty their dog will survive after he was bitten by paralysis ticks, with the vet caring for the dog now warning other pet owners to brace themselves for the tick season ahead.
Sydney residents Lauren and Josh Stevens were in New Zealand visiting family with their young son on Sunday when their dog sitter told them she was rushing their 11-year-old West Highland Terrier Oscar to the vet. He was initially given the all-clear, however that turned out to be very wrong.
"He started to get wobbly legs and a bit sick so the sitter took him to the vet but they said he was OK after checking him over," a friend and colleague of Lauren's, Amy Fowler, told Yahoo News. However, the sitter was "pulled aside" by a vet nurse.
"The vet nurse pulled the sitter aside and said, 'Get a second opinion. I wouldn't take him home if he were my dog'," she said.
After chasing a second opinion at the Small Animal Specialist Hospital (SASH), the team quickly found two paralysis ticks on Oscar — one on his eye and the other on his neck.
They immediately gave him antivenom but within hours he was in the intensive care unit on a ventilator after developing pneumonia.
Pet insurance only covers $1000 in tick treatment
The ventilator costs $2,200 for every 12 hours that Oscar is supported on it, and alongside the antivenom and other medications, the family are currently facing $25,000 worth of medical bills, Amy explained.
They have been warned the price is likely to reach up to $40,000 as the vet said Oscar will need at least a few more days on the life-support machine if he has a chance of pulling through.
The family do have pet insurance, however, their package only covers $1,000 worth of tick treatment, meaning all the rest is coming out of their own pocket. Due to this, the family may likely have to stop treatment — something that Amy is desperately hoping they won't need to do.
"They're both really hard workers, but she didn't want to ask anyone for any money. And they were like, we're going to have to stop treatment now as we can't afford it. And I was like, 'Absolutely not'," she said.
Amy has since created a GoFundMe page in the hope of raising funds so the family can continue with Oscar's treatment. After watching the situation unfold, Amy plans to check on her pet insurance to ensure she has more coverage in the event this occurs to her own dog.
"Usually Lauren and Josh would give him the tick treatment but it was winter, they hadn't done it yet," she said.
Aussie vet's stark warning to pet owners after 'terrifying' spike in cases
Warning as Aussie toddler 'barely able to breathe' from backyard bug
Tick treatment needed 'all year round', vet warns
Oscar's vet Ava Tan, who is a specialist in emergency and critical care, has warned pet owners to give their animals preventative treatment all year round, not only in summer when it's "peak tick season".
"With it being such a high risk and it potentially going wrong, I think taking prevention all year round is important," she told Yahoo News, explaining Oscar's prognosis is currently "critical".
There are many preventative tick medicines available for dogs and getting into the habit of checking your dog over when they come back from a walk can help safeguard them from the potentially fatal side effects of a tick bite, Tan explained.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
