MAJOR UPDATE ON ORIGINAL STORY

I am writing this on October 27th, 2025, ten days after the original crisis that brought my family to GoFundMe looking for help. It felt important that I add this to the story instead of just adding in the form of a minor update because our goals have broadened quite a bit. The original story will be beneath this update for all to see.

For a quick recap, our family was shocked ten days ago when one of our dogs, Luna, woke up extremely ill and was rushed to the emergency vet. After a vet trip that cost over $600 - with additional, out of pocket costs upping the ante - we were able to get Luna stable and comfortable despite the vet not being sure what exactly was wrong with her. As of now, Luna is doing much better, and we expect her to make a full recovery, but whatever she had was contagious. And it's virulent.

Each of our other dogs began showing symptoms, one by one, and it is hitting our two little ones especially hard. Donut and Mousse, 16lbs and 11lbs respectively, are both severely ill, with intense vomiting and very bloody diarrhea. We are putting them through the same treatments that helped Luna pull through, and we're hoping for the best.

Blood tests and x-rays have ruled out intestinal blockages, parvo, intestinal perforations, and a myriad of other diseases and conditions, so our instructions have been to medicate and monitor each of the dogs the same way we did for Luna when she initially fell ill. We're keeping our fingers crossed that these same treatments are enough for our other three dogs.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that these vet trips and medications have blasted our budget into dust. Today's vet visit alone totaled over $100 per dog, and our collective vet bills are well over $1,000 (I've included images of today's invoice below for those concerned with fact checking). All of the money we saved up for this months mortgage payment went towards our dogs instead, and we're struggling trying to find ways to keep our lights on and pay the vet at the same time. Our new goal of $2,000 would go entirely to the care and recovery of our dogs. Anything that you might be able to do to help, whether that be sharing this page with others or donating a dollar or two, would be such an incredible blessing to us. Thank you for your time in reading this updated story.

Ziva's Invoice for Oct 27th:

Mousse's Invoice for Oct 27th (Includes two booster shots the vet wanted to bring up to date):

Donut's Invoice for Oct 27th:

Our Story (original post, Oct 17th)

Hello, everyone. My name is Megan Blanchard, and my family and I have the honor of caring for four beautiful dogs - a ragtag family of two tiny mega mutts, a German Shepherd, and last but not least a black labradoodle we took home from a nearby farmer. We love each of them like family, and we work hard to give them the best care possible despite the financial difficulties we've faced these past couple of years. This GoFundMe is to support our fluffy, 45lb ball of midnight fur, Luna.

Today (October 17th, 2025) a sudden medical emergency struck one of our four legged babies. Luna, our little farm girl, woke up and began vomiting violently and had multiple very bloody stools. We rushed her to the emergency vet worried that she may have a blockage or perforation in her intestines. Several x-rays, blood tests, and exams later, and the vet is still uncertain what is wrong with her. While we're relieved that no perforation or blockage was found, we were told that Luna's intestines are extremely inflamed, and the medical bill just keeps rising as time goes on.

Luna is stable but heavily medicated at home - doing a lot more sleeping than we're used to for such a bubbly, bouncy dog - and we are monitoring her closely per the vet's instructions. She is still having frightening bloody stools, and we still have no solid answers on what is wrong or what her treatments will entail moving forward. As I write this, the medical bills are a little more than $600, and we have no way of knowing whether it will rise or not. This may not sound like much money to some, but this is a scary amount of money for my family. We could barely cover the $150 fee to get her in to see the emergency vet, and we are expected to pay off the $600 as quickly as possible. Any help you might be willing to give, even just a dollar or two, would be immensely appreciated - and potentially life saving for our Luna while we continue to monitor her and (hopefully) find out what is wrong.

Getting to Know Luna

The first thing you need to know about Luna is her unbreakable bond with her best friend, Ziva the German Shepherd. This page's cover photo shows Luna (left) and Ziva (right) relaxing by our back fence after another epic race around the backyard. Another picture below shows them relaxing inside together after morning playtime. They are inseparable, constantly running, wrestling, and playing tug of war together. Even the sacred spoonful of peanut butter is shared between the two - if one of them is doing something, the other is not far behind. They're so close, in fact, that Ziva would not stop pacing or whining at home when she wasn't allowed to go with Luna to the hospital today. It wasn't until Luna came home that Ziva was willing to relax, showing that it's not just the humans of the family who need Luna to be okay.

The second - and probably most important - thing you must know about Luna is that eye contact means you must shower her with love. If you make eye contact with her and you don't pet her immediately, she will stamp her front feet and huff. And if you still don't pet her? Huffing will turn to indignant barking and her stomps will turn into full hops to get your attention. You WILL pet her. She deserves it. Just look at her frickin' face!

Third, zoomies. All. The. Time.

Deep in her fluffy body is an insatiable need to run at Mach speeds everywhere she goes. Outside or inside, on a walk or relieving herself in the yard, she is taking all of life's challenges at a full sprint. She's quite good at it, too; sometimes she'll even turn if something gets in her way! Plus, she has a habit of defying gravity for photos, which is one of the coolest traits a pet can have in my humble opinion.

Those are just a few personality traits out of hundreds we could name, but I hope they help give you a glimpse of what a vibrant dog Luna is. It is heartbreaking to see her so sick, and we are unsure of her future at the moment, but we refuse to give up on her. Any help you can provide will go towards her vet bills so that we can keep her in our family for as long as possible.

Thank you,

Megan and Family