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Otto's Emergency Vet Bill

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Asking for help is not easy for me but in this situation, myself and Russ had no idea what else to do and our lil Otto needs help. 


OVERVIEW
Otto, our lil chow/husky rescue, has been diagnosed with Addison's disease where his adrenal gland isn't producing enough cortisol  & aldosterone. This causes an imbalance in hormones and leads to an Addisonian crisis which can be fatal and luckily we caught it before his was fatal for Otto. He has been at the ER for 3 days and while he is now stabilizing, we need help to bring him home and we have a huge huge vet bill that is crippling. He will need to be on steroids for the rest of his life BUT he is alive and we are reaching out on a limb to see if anybody can help us. 



THE WARNING SIGNS.....

Two weeks ago, Russell and I came home from a family trip and Otto was fine (goofy and sassy still but fine). We noticed over the next few days that he wasn't eating so we did the usual chicken/rice diet but he still refused to eat.

We took him to the vet who found via X-Rays that Otto had a severe inflammation in his stomach and they diagnosed him with Gastritis. They opted to do an in-home treatment as gastritis is easy treatable and we were sent home with some antibiotics, anti-nausea and antacids for him. The day we got home we called and told the vet that Otto was still refusing to eat so they told us to get a meat-based baby food and to feed him via syringe to ensure he was getting nutrients. 
We fed Otto via Syringe with his medications (as told) for 4 days and he was not getting better -- in fact, he was getting worse. 

Two days ago Otto was incredibly lethargic but we were keeping an eye on him hoping he just was a little weak from not having full meals. Otto came to sit by me on the bed and when I tried to take him outside he wouldn't move. I tried to give him a little booty boost but he just laid there. When he finally did budge, he couldn't use his back legs and fell over. We immediately picked him up and ran to the ER at around 11 pm.


THE ER VISIT DAY 1...

When we arrived they got Otto on fluids to try and stabilize him.
The VET at the ER initially told us it might be spinal injury or potentially cancer and quoted us an MRI at $4,000 and then possible surgery/additional care for $10,000. Russ and I felt helpless. They said they'd do initial blood work and let us know. Russ and I spent the next 2 hours crying in the car because we knew we couldn't afford the care Otto might need and that we might be faced with a really really heartbreaking decision. We didn't want him to live in pain but we were hoping for good news and a miracle. 

2 hours later the Vet told us is was not a spinal injury but rather his electrolytes were all out of whack. His potassium was at a 9 and his Sodium was at a 2 which should have been fatal. They told us they believed it could be Addison's Disease and that they would stabilize him overnight and send the blood work out to confirm. We left the ER at about 6 am hoping for the best. 


DAY 2.....

The Vet let us know today around noon that it WAS Addison's Disease and that Otto was doing better but still not great today. They kept him on IV's and began steroid medication to help balance him out. They monitored his levels and said they'd need to keep him for another night to stabilize. 

DAY 3.....this morning

The Vet let us know that Otto ate a little this morning and his vitals were stabilizing. They had begun his steroid treatment and were keeping an eye on him to ensure his Sodium levels were going up. If his vitals are stable this afternoon, we can pick him up at 5 pm but if not, they'd need to keep him one more night. The only issue is this huge bill....




THE FINANCES

We are forever grateful to the ER staff and to the Vet because they have been amazing at keeping up posted BUT this all has cost a lot of money -- money that we do not have. I opened a new credit line but because my student loan is deliquent (because who can afford them??), I can't open anything else. I used every dime in my account and we leaned on my mom to help tremendously. We had family members tell us Otto wasn't worth it and so we are hoping that those who have spent time with Otto can help show that he IS worth it. 

Please help us bring Otto home and cover this vet bill that has 100% saved his life. Otto means the world to us. 

QUICK UPDATE:
They've started him on new steroids which has added to our bill but without them he'd still have higher Potassium. :( Please send your prayers. 

Best,
Kelsey Rose & Russ <3 

Organizer

Kelsey Rose Weber
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA

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