Lexi

About the Campaign

Lexi is a 7-year-old female Poodle with a Meibomian gland adenoma, a growth that starts in one of the small oil glands along the edge of the eyelid. It is on her right eye, and it needs to be surgically removed. At the same time, her vet found advanced gum disease, so she also needs a dental cleaning and treatment for the infection.

Angela noticed that Lexi’s right eye had become goopy and that she kept pawing at it. She took her to the vet, who found a small mass on the eyelid. The vet cannot tell exactly how large it is from the outside because it extends back into the lid, but the recommendation is clear: it needs to come out. Growths like this keep rubbing against the surface of the eye, and the longer they stay, the more irritation and damage they can cause. While examining her, the vet also found that Lexi’s gum disease has progressed to the point where it needs to be treated now.

Lexi has been through worse. Angela found her at six weeks old in Old Town Pasadena, in the hands of a homeless man who was hitting her on the street. When Angela and her family confronted him, he screamed that the puppy deserved it. They offered him $30 to let her go, and he kicked her toward them. At the vet, Lexi was emaciated, bruised, and limping, and she had to be bottle fed. The vet warned she might have permanent injuries or brain damage. She recovered, and she has been Angela’s dog for seven years!

Angela helps care for her father and grandfather, who are both disabled, and the household runs on a public school teacher’s assistant’s paycheck. Their home in Hastings Ranch was badly damaged in the fire that destroyed the house next door. The structure survived, but everything inside was lost. The family maxed out their credit cards on housing and then on making the home livable again, and they only moved back in last November. There is no credit left to put toward a surgery.

The good news is that both problems are treatable. Removing the growth should get Lexi out of discomfort and protect her eye, and dental treatment will clear the infection in her mouth. Donations will help cover her exam, bloodwork, anesthesia, eyelid tumor removal, biopsy of the mass, dental cleaning, any extractions needed, and pain medication. All donations are paid only to the veterinarian. Vet estimate below, click to enlarge: