Ringo’s All-Starr Life

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Ringo’s All-Starr Life

Ringo Starr, a Seattle based dachshund, protecting his people and destroying toys.

08/10/2026

Happy Birthday Ringo Starr! I can’t believe you’re 7! You came to us 6.5 years ago and they’ve amazing and silly and always surprising years. You have cancer now (even though you don’t know it) and we would do anything to give you many more birthdays, barking out windows and eating cheesy biscuits.
❤️ Link to GoFundMe in my bio. Any amount helps.

08/04/2026

As you might know, back in April, Ringo was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He immediately started chemo. In June, we temporarily moved to Portland, so that Ringo could have aggressive radiation treatment that’s not available in Seattle. Over the course of 5 weeks, Ringo went under light anesthesia and radiation treatment every weekday for 20 days. Because he refuses to have anything in his leg, like an IV catheter, he also had to have a radiation port surgically implanted and later removed. It was a lot, and there were a few scary moments along the way (such as when he opted to rip out the original IV catheter). We stayed in 2 different AirBnBs, luckily across the street from each other. It was so hard though, being away from home, while Ringo was going through so much. It was hard on both of us humans, hard on Georgie (who was there too), and very hard on Ringo. By the end of each week, you could see the toll it was taking on him. But he’d be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next Monday, rarin’ to go. An odd quirk - the radiation causes hyperpigmentation. Ringo now has a half-black tummy!
Ringo will be 7 years old in a week. He’s young! This type of radiation will supposedly buy him another 2 years. Of course, you never know with cancer. But Ringo is incredibly resilient and I hope this buys him another 4 years!
Amid all this, I finished grad school. Brandon and I both remain unemployed (ouch!) in this crappy job market, and there were a lot of job interviews happening at the same time too. (No luck yet, but we keep trying.) There were AirBnB costs + the rent back home in Seattle. All the costs of living elsewhere (although I feel like I brought a good portion of our house with us). In our current situation, it’s all just become too much. I have finally started a GoFundMe. I would appreciate you sharing the link: https://www.gofundme.com/help-ringo-beat-cancer
In the meantime, we can only hope that this rather rough year for our family will improve. And we'll continue to be grateful for everyday with Georgie and Ringo.

07/07/2026

Today is Ringo Starr’s (the human) 86th birthday. Every year, he asks for everyone to stop at noon in their time zone and wish for peace and love. ✌️ ❤️
These photos are of my Ringo, 6 years ago and now, with his little scarf covering his radiation port.
We’re wishing his drumming namesake a happy birthday and along with peace ✌️ and love ❤️, we’re hoping some of that longevity rubs off on Ringo the dachshund.
I keep meaning to start a blog with Ringo’s progress. It’s a lot. We’re in an AirBnB for a month in Portland (actually 2 because we have to switch next week). He’s receiving aggressive radiation therapy. By the end of each week he’s exhausted. Next week we finish, and the radiation port surgically implanted two weeks ago is removed next Wednesday. A day to recover and then back home to Seattle. We’ve experienced all sorts of fluid explosions from his body over the last month, chaos, depression, and so many feelings. But you deal with it because this is our little guy and we love him.
He’s such a resilient little man, never failing to protect us from squirrels outside the window even when he’s not feeling all that well. ❤️❤️

05/29/2026

Update on my Ringo Starr:
We’ve had 2 chemo treatments out of 5. We’ve had a cardiologist appt to make sure his little heart is strong enough to handle what’s coming up (he is). Today we went 3.5 hours south to Portland to go to the only canine radiation treatment center in the Pacific Northwest. He had a fancy CT Scan and they mapped his tumors. We learned these aren’t small tumors - Ringo has had these a while but has been acting fine. We had no way of knowing. So June 10 we start aggressive radiation treatment, 20 days M-F. So we’re going to find an AirBnB and move to Portland for a month. He’ll go under light anesthesia every one of those days, which is why we checked in with the cardiologist. All of this to buy around 2 years more time with our boy. Borrowed time, but time nonetheless. In the photos, you can see the “X marks the spot” on his back for the radiation. In the last photo, you can also see that he and George are not fans of road trips. 🤦🏼‍♀️

04/29/2026

Ringo started chemo yesterday. Conservatively this buys him 7-9 months if we can get him to Oregon for radiation as well. I have more info for UC Davis now that I’ll send down there.
Ringo is a bit lethargic today, which is to be expected, so I’m glad it’s a day with lots of warm sun spots.
I’ll take any extra minute with Ringo that I can get. I was crying my eyes out last night imagining life without him in it.
I want to point everyone to a group called The Canine Cancer Alliance . My new favorite non-profit. They help fund research into canine cancers of all types, most recently making strides in bone cancer.

04/25/2026

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all
___
On Friday, we are starting the day with HOPE. Yesterday, they confirmed the diagnosis of carcinoma in both his prostate and his adjoining lymph node. But they also want to do chemo, which can extend his life. I was really surprised by that. Right now, the biggest thing is can he p*e on his own, because the bladder is a little squished by the inflammation.
But they let us take him home, and he’s definitely happy to be here. Georgie is very happy to see him. Not sure if that’s reciprocated.
There has been barking. Nothing has made me happier.
He is doped up on codeine and gabapentin. He’s also on a full-spectrum antibiotic to clear up a UTI, and Rimadyl, which will help with the tumor inflammation. Next steps are to watch him for pain when/if he p*es, keep him comfortable, meet with the oncologist on Tuesday, and make more plans from there. I’m still very interested in this relatively new procedure (PAE) from the doctor at UC-Davis, so I haven’t ruled that out either, once we talk to the oncologist. So let’s all keep HOPE and also, keep hoping he p*es. (Of all things, wanting a dachshund to p*e!)

04/23/2026

So much to say.
Today we transferred Ringo to critical care at a hospital that has oncology. The original urine test is a culture where we wouldn’t get results until 4/30. So here we can get a needle aspiration and more rapid results. I need a definitive diagnosis on whether it is cancer, although it shows all the signs.
I did a research deep dive yesterday because it makes me feel like I’m somehow helping him. I found a study in Pennsylvania, 4 weeks, starting soon, but she said the results from the first round are negligible, so it’s probably not worth the expense the get him out there. I also found a dr down at UC-Davis who specializes in this stuff. He gave me a LOT of information. So now I need to find out if there is a dr here who does the same relatively new procedure or if I need to get Ringo down there. Much closer than Penn.
So let’s hope the aspiration gives us the results we want to hear.
I will fight for him and do everything I can to save him.

04/21/2026

My love.
After a tumultuous 3 days at Urgent Care and then , Ringo is finally home with us. We took him in for what we thought was a bowel obstruction and what was found was an enlarged heart, and more pressing, an enlarged prostate.
Prostate cancer is rare in dogs, especially as young as Ringo (6.5). But it happens. We won’t know if it’s benign or, heaven forbid, cancerous for about a week. Regardless, prostate surgery is not an option.
So we have a week of waiting and wondering what we missed, what could we have done sooner. A week to try and remember that just last week he was barking wildly at the delivery guy. And I need to stop crying because we don’t have the results yet. He is still here, to be loved fiercely.
But this dog is my best friend. He is my heart. Send up a prayer, if you don’t mind, that Ringo will be ok.

04/19/2026

I’m worried about Ringo. Yesterday he vomited twice, and that included toy fluff. He wouldn’t p**p, p*e, eat, or bark. He always barks. So we went to the urgent care vet. That vet took x-rays and nothing could be seen that would cause an obstruction. What was shown, and is a separate issue, is an enlarged heart. So a doggy cardiologist is in the near future. The vet hydrated him under the skin and sent us home with probiotics.
I fed him pumpkin and rice last night (he’s allergic to all but novel meat products) and this morning. His bowels are back in order, he’s eating, but he’s still so lethargic, too uncomfortable to jump between the furniture or take the stairs, and still not barking. You can tell he wants to do all these things but doesn’t have the willpower? Lack of energy? I’m going to slowly add his rabbit patties back into his food today. Maybe he just needs protein.
I’m really worried about him. I’m calling the cardiologist Monday morning and his normal vet tomorrow if he’s not more peppy.
He’s only 6.5 years. He’s my best friend and I can’t lose him.

Address

Bella Vista, AR

Website

https://www.gofundme.com/help-ringo-beat-cancer, http://www.instagram.com/agirl.and.herdog

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