Help Us Save Athena

This is our sweet girl, Athena . She is our world and is so playful, loving, and always by our side. She brings us so much joy and comfort every single day.

At barely 8 weeks old, Athena was found by the side of the highway in rural North Carolina. She was brought in to the shelter where she was diagnosed with head trauma from a fall, optic nerve damage, mange and worms. Due to her medical condition and needs, the shelter was set to euthanize her. Second Start Rescue posted about Athena and what was due to happen to her. I drove over 4 hours to get Athena the day she was to be put down, with the hope of fostering her. On the ride back, she and I instantly connected, and set the record for fastest foster fail. Since then, she’s brought nothing but happiness, love, laughter, and joy to not just my life, but everyone who meets her.

Right now, Athena is fighting for her life. She suddenly became very sick and was rushed to the emergency vet, where the doctor found she has aspiration pneumonia. On top of that, she is having seizures and neurological issues, and her medical team is worried there may be something more serious happening with her brain.

The next step is a consultation with a neurologist, and she may need an MRI and advanced treatment to find out what’s going on and how to help her. The cost of her care is estimated at $8,000 to $10,000. We applied for CareCredit and doing everything we can, but we cannot cover this ourselves.

Athena deserves the chance to fight and to come back home where she belongs. Every single donation, no matter the size, will go directly to her emergency care. Even if you cannot donate, sharing this page means so much to us. If, by some good chance, you contribute more than Athena needs, we’ll refund the donation or give it to Second Start Rescue, where Athena came to us from.

Athena has given us unconditional love, and now we are fighting to give her the same chance to heal. Please help us save her.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

Ari, Bret, Marielle & Finlay