Clementine the elderbull needs your help!

My sweet lady Clementine was rushed to the DMV February 23rd. I stepped out to run a few errands and came home to find her pacing in the living room doing circles (common post-seizure) and completely disoriented and unresponsive. I immediately called a cab to go to the DMV Emergency Vet Clinic in Lachine about 20 minutes from my home. While waiting for the cab she lost all bodily function and had to be carried to the cab. In the cab she had a seizure that lasted for ~45 seconds and her tongue was blueish in colour. Upon getting to the DMV they rushed her into the emergency clinic and gave her multiple anti-convulsion medications and valium to calm her down.

 The vet’s suggested that it may be Insulinoma which is a type of pancreas cancer where the insulinomas produce excessive insulin causing the blood to be low in glucose (hypoglycemia) which can induce lethargy and neurological problems including seizures. Clementine had started to tremble in the past month and I took her to two different vets that dismissed her trembles as her going senile/elderly body. The vets confirmed with an ultrasound that there was a mass on her pancreas. We were supposed to have the surgery on the 25th, but because she kept having seizures the DMV did an emergency surgery on the 24th evening to remove the tumor that was like a “cast” around her pancreas. The surgery was successful, but she continued to have seizures until the morning which is explained by her pancreas having not functioned for some amount of time and needing to be ‘re-activated’. She continues to be heavily sedated (valium IV-drip) and is on anti-seizure and anti-inflammation medication to give her brain time to recuperate from the trauma of having over 48 hours of seizures and to give her pancreas not functioning. We will be weaning her off the IV-drip today slowly to give her a chance to have the oxygen tube removed and to become conscious. It is only when she wakes up will we know how much/if she has experienced brain damage. I am doing everything I can to give her this chance. The vet’s are encouraging but all of this comes at a huge financial cost.


I created this GoFunndMe to ask for assistance in covering the cost of her medical care. Day 3 and we are at $10,383.05. If/when she recovers from the trauma, she will need to stay at the DMV for approximately a week which could double the bill. The best cause scenario is for her to  be ease out of the heavy sedation, be under continuous monitoring and then return home to continue her recovery from the brain trauma induced by the seizures. The DMV is an incredible Animal Health Centre and is providing Clementine the very best medical care in the province of Quebec.

I am not someone who typically asks for financial assistance, but Clementine’s vet bill is non-negotiable to me and am looking for financial support. I am a first year PhD student with meager income and have another dog Eleanor, and cat, Burz at home. If anyone knows me, they know that I will do absolutely anything to care for animal’s whether they be dogs, cats, or chickens and cows and refuse to put a monetary value on the care they deserve. I adopted Clementine 4 years ago from Kitchener-Waterloo SPCA. They were going to euthanize (kill) her because she was rendered un-adoptable because of her skin conditions and allergies but because of a dear friend, Clementine and I found ourselves together. She is my absolute best friend who I proudly call Clemonster because she is an absolute troublemaker that chomps like a crocodile and is a literal love dispenser. I am forever grateful for any financial assistance you can provide and or if you can share this amongst your community. Clementine is choosing to fight and that means it is not time to let go.

***UPDATE February 26th 

I just got off the phone with the vet looking after Clementine and they shared really, really good news with me! As of 6am she is slowly waking up from her induced coma (lasted roughly 48hours). She lifted her head on her own prompting the oxygen therapy to be removed! She drank water on her own this morning but she is still very sleepy. My heart is filled with happiness because this means that the tumor on the pancreas was indeed throwing off the balance between fructose/insulin that induced her seizures and the primary source of her health issues. I will be visiting her this morning and share news and hopefully photo's of a lively Clementine.  Thank you again to everyone that has been so generous with their time reaching out to my family, sharing the GoFundMe, and of course to those that have donated helping me alleviate the debt of providing un-negotiable health care to my queen Clemmy.