Hi everyone! I'm Katje, or Monstrous as I'm known online.

I'm a writer (more accurate title: starving artist) and a Registration and Records Clerk at the local hospital in Powell River, where I live with my mother. I moved here a year ago (before the pandemic) to help her out after she broke her ankle, leaving my husband a five hour, 2-boat ride trip away in the Lower Mainland. My job at the hospital has been casual, as all hospital jobs start out in my line of work, so work has not been...shall we say, steady.

2020 was an incredibly hard year on us -- the pandemic meant I didn't get to visit my husband as often as we planned, my mom's ankle had complications that were honestly terrifying, and my spinal injury flared up and left me bedridden during the fall. Truthfully, it's a miracle we survived -- a miracle I can chalk up, in my case at least, to a special furry being.

Sirius Li.

The Dog Star

Sirius and his sister Mika asleep on our table when they were seven weeks old.

Sirius was born to a friend's dog in early September, 2020. When the puppies were old enough to be away from their mom for a few hours, my mom brought 2 of them to see me in my bedridden state, hoping they would cheer me up.

She had no idea. Not only did the two furry loaves cheer me up immensely, but I instantly bonded with the boy. There was that soul-connection moment and I knew he was meant to be in my life. I knew I had to get better for him.

I had been in a dark place until then. Sirius dragged me out of it, a shining star on which to set my sights. I recovered from that bout of spinal hell and worked hard on getting the next step in treatment for my back (currently scheduled for April 28th).

And we prepared to welcome him into our home as soon as he was old enough to leave his mom.

Sweetest Boy Ever

Sirius in the passenger seat of my van, waiting for his pupuccino!

Sirius is seven months old now, and he has been such a bright spot in our lives. He has the sweetest nature and he's gorgeous -- well, you can see that from his pictures. He loves cuddling and in the morning we go downstairs to see my mom -- his "Oma" -- and he rockets to her to give her kisses all over her face.

We call him the "furry little missile of love" even though he's not little anymore; at 7 months he's somehow 55 pounds.

He has bonded very strongly with us, and I truly know the meaning of the term "Dog Mom" now.

This week, we had to take him to the vet for some diagnostics. He'd been limping for a while and we wanted to make sure it wasn't anything serious.

Unfortunately, it is serious.

Gold-Plated Border Collie

Sirius has Osteochondritis Dissecans, a disorder of the cartilage, in both shoulders. If untreated, he will become permanently lame, and be in pain all the time.

This is a terrible outcome for a Border Collie, who lives to run (and herd everything, including his humans). And living in pain all the time is a terrible outcome for any person, furry or otherwise. I can't let it happen to my baby. 

Conservative treatment -- that is, with medication and diet -- has a 50/50 chance of working. If it doesn't work, we're looking at keeping him on anti-inflammatories and pain meds for the rest of his life.

Surgery has a 90% chance of working. As he has it in both shoulders, it's best if we have him go to a specialist down in Vancouver who can do it arthroscopically (with a scope -- minimally invasive and they can do both shoulders at the same time) rather than having two separate surgeries (one for each shoulder) here in town.

We are on the list for the specialist already, whose next opening is in July. Yes, even dog specialists have long waiting lists!

Dog Mom Life

We are doing the surgery -- that's been decided, because it's the best option for his health and wellbeing. But it's going to cost an incredible amount of money that is just...not there right now.

I'm his momma. I swore I'd protect and take care of him come hell or high water, and this is both. If I have to rob a bank to make this happen for him, I will.

Please help me not have to rob a bank.

Any money donated goes straight towards helping my little dog star thrive. The costs are outlined below.

Costs

1. The surgery. The estimate I was given was 5,500 CAD. However, that is an estimate, and the vet has known specialist surgeries to go as high as 10,000. So the range is quite large. I'm making a goal of fundraising $7,000 before July -- if it ends up costing more, well, I'll figure it out.
2. Travel. I'll need travel costs and accommodation down in Vancouver when I take Sirius to his surgery. He'll spend a night in the animal hospital (that cost is included in the surgery cost above), but I'll still need a place to stay, and ferry costs. I'm fundraising $300 -- that will cover my round trip costs and a night in a pet-friendly hotel.
3. Medication. Between now and July, we need to keep Sirius on the medications and supplements outlined in the "conservative" treatment for the condition so that things don't get worse for him. They'll cost about $200 a month, so I'm fundraising $400 for it.

Total fundraising amount: $7,700.

Will You Lend a Helping Paw?

Any amount you can donate will help, and Sirius and I will both be incredibly grateful. (As will the rest of our pack!)

If you can't donate, I totally understand -- times are tight for everyone right now. You can still help!

• Share this campaign with your friends and family and let them know a very special Border Collie needs help.
• You can also read Sirius' blog, Dire Collie, at Substack. All posts will always be public and free. He just insisted that he needed a way to get his barking to more people, so I obliged and helped him set it up. (I'm still trying to curb the actual barking, though. It's excessive.)
• Light a candle or say a prayer to a deity or saint of your choice. Hekate, for example, is very fond of black dogs, and I know St. Francis is a good go-to for animal issues. I know I'll be saying my own prayers to them to keep my baby safe and well.

Thank you!

If you're here at the bottom of my long story -- thank you for reading! Thank you for taking an interest in Sirius' story. He is sending you face licks and tail wags from afar, because he loves everyone he meets -- especially you!

Cuddle time with Oma!

Tail-wags,
Sirius and his pack (Mommy, Oma, Big Dog, and Daddy)