M*

On March 3rd, 2014 my dog (Pomeranian breed), Lymle, was admitted to the nearest Emergency Animal Clinic because she began having episodes of cluster seizures in the later afternoon. She not only suffered from seizures, but she had a load of clotting in her system because of her Liver Shunt. She suffered a panic attack a little before the episodes and has a history of being very weak/easily ill (most of her attacks end within ten minutes or so and our vet always reassured us that treatment wasn’t necessary because the attacks were very rare).  It seems that later on when she had suffered a minor heart attack, so I was beyond distraught with what to do and just took her to the nearest hospital as soon as possible.

She is about six to seven years old now and has never once been admitted to an Emergency Clinic. This all came as a huge surprise to my family and I. She’s always been so easy to manage and care for at home, but 

We have no pet insurance (we are considering to sign up for it in a few weeks when we can adjust our daily budgets around the veterinary costs) whatsoever and I am just a student (I’ve been out of a job for about a year now), the expenses for the visit/treatment came up to the sum of $1239.29 USD. I am in debt with my bank by about $10k for school, medication for my own health (I have Dysthymia) and bills for home.  I can only really pay for this one visit and the medication that came with it.

The doctor who was in charge of my Lymle’s treatment that I was need to eventually get her to my vet and get her signed up to get an ultrasound (cost: $400 USD minimum) to determine how bad her Liver Shunt is and if we do need to consider surgery. Surgery itself is going to probably cost us at least $1000+ minimum (this is just an unlikely estimate with the potential of pet insurance and cost deductions).

I have to bring my girl back to the clinic next week (March 11th, 2014) for a follow up exam and to get a refill for her prescriptions (which roughly cost about $206 for the medication). I am currently not capable of paying another $200+ dollars for medication/food, let alone the visit (which costs about $120) to the doctor’s.

Lymle is doing very well since her visit to the Emergency Clinic and has been steadily improving, but she can only keep improving if I can provide her with the food and fluids to help keep her liver free of toxins. There is actually a cure for this and that is through surgical methods. The catch is: we cannot begin to think of surgery as an option without Lymle being medically stable first. So all these meds and the refills for them are very important to how long her life will be.

I am incapable of paying for that all by myself and my family has already loaned me the $1200 to help pay for her hospitalization costs. My family cannot loan me any more money because they have their own expenses. The only person who is currently working a steady job is my father and my mother is on a medical vacation because she injured her arm not too long ago and is unable to do any of the heavy lifting or motherboard repairs that her job requires of her. My brother is not working and pretty much slumps around at home while in search of a job. I have been relying on whatever was left in my savings from when I worked and I have been digging into my life savings (which is meant to support me for when I am independent/stable enough to be on my own) just to cover daily costs.

I honestly did not want to ask Tumblr or any of my friends for help, but if anyone has a dollar or a few cents to spare, please do. Any help is appreciated (especially medical tips on how to manage Liver Shunt), reblogs, kind wishes, etc. I am not demanding that you do help, so do not take this post as a “help me or else” kind of thing, because it is not. I just wanted to share my story out there in hopes that someone can help me out in whatever way possible. My dog(s) mean the world to me and I want to do whatever I can to ensure that they live long, comfortable and healthy lives.

I love my dogs and I want the best for them. Lymle is a sweet dog even though she is very meek and reserved, she is a very friendly and loving dog. I only want the best for her and want to do what I can to make sure she is able to live a healthy, happy and long life.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here or on Twitter. I’ll be updating about my dog on my Twitter account every few hours or major update (it’s easier to update Twitter via my phone than it is with Tumblr). I’ll compile a list of updates for Tumblr after the next visit to the vet.

I’ll be talking to the vet next week to see how much the total estimate cost of a potential surgery would cost if her liver is stable enough/for when her liver has recovered enough. I’ll update with the costs and her condition periodically throughout the week. So if you’re interested in knowing our journey, feel free to monitor my blog and my text post tag.

If you choose to donate in any way, my email for donations is [email protected] or you can click this link.

Other information:

Her prescription diet: L/D Canine Hepatic Health Cost: $61.99 (without tax) List of medication:

Neomycin Sulfate-Bisol Oral Suspension Cost: $16.20 USD 

Amoxicillin Suspension Cost: $29.90 USD 

Metronidazole Suspension Cost: $33.50 USD 

Lactulose Suspension Cost: $96.00 USD 

Levetiracetam Suspension. Cost: $30.00 USD 

Here’s a photo/cap of her medication schedule (pardon my sloppy handwriting) and here is a cap of her paper from the Doctor’s for anyone who doubts.