Rogers Fund

My name is Leah Ash, I'm starting this fundraiser for my truest friend Katrina McCane and her beloved and sweet Roger Lil Man McCane.

Her story below:

On Wednesday September 27th Roger was diagnosed with a Portosystemic Liver Shunt after spending a day in the ICU because he was displaying neurological symptoms. Basically, when he was in his mothers womb, he was using her liver, but when he was born, he was supposed to start using his own, unfortunately he was born with this condition where his liver cannot filter out toxins nearly as well as it should. I immediately started Roger on a low protein hepatic diet, made specifically for dogs with liver problems as well as started him on a mixture of medications, an antibiotic, a pain med, and a liquid medication that would help prevent him from absorbing anymore toxins. 

On the 29th I was traveling to Colorado to attend a wedding that I had to attend and I decided to bring Roger with me to make sure that he was well taken care of. Roger was doing fine for the first four days after he left the ICU but, unfortunately, he began to decline on Monday October 2nd. The first thing we noticed is that he appeared to have lost his vision… He stopped wanting to eat or drink, and suddenly wasn’t able to walk. I began to administer one of his medication’s every hour to see if I could get him to make a bowel movement, and release any built-up toxins. Tuesday morning we began to drive back home from Colorado and Roger was crying an abnormal amount and seemed uncomfortable- at this time I was still trying to get him to make a bowel movement.

Suddenly, Roger began to seize… It took us about 25 minutes to get to the nearest animal hospital. We stopped at Swartz Animal Hospital in Colby, Kansas. They immediately took Roger in and got him on fluids as well as Emergency seizure meds. They let me know he needed to stay to see if they could stabilize him enough for travel. We had to drive home that night, which was agonizing for me. They didn’t think he was going to make it through the night, so I truly thought my little guy was gone… At 7:30am Wednesday morning Dr. Beth called me and let me know that he had made it through the night and that he was doing OK. He had Suspected pneumonia, possible brain damage, and was unstable, but otherwise OK…

Over the next few days he began to show very small signs of improvement, and I had to make the decision to move him to an animal hospital closer that could provide him with 24/7 care. Words cannot describe how thankful I am for Dr. Beth and everything she did for him while he was there.

 I decided to transfer him to K-State, where he has been since Friday October 5th. He is again showing very small signs of improvement… The keyword here is small. Roger needs lots of time to get stronger and get better, and unfortunately treatment is very expensive. Without treatment, and time he will not make it. Roger is only 10 months old but he is a very strong little guy. He has been through a lot, and he has always pulled through. I know deep down in my heart that Roger is fighting and he wants to come out of it. He wants to live.

Every dollar raised will go straight to “sophie’s gift for pugs sake” group on Facebook. They have helped me so much through this heartbreaking journey. They paid for his vet bill in Colby, and they also paid for his down payment at Kstate.… A little over 3000 for everything, and unfortunately, we still need more to continue his treatment and care. Even if all the funds are not needed for Roger, it is important that they have it for the next family that comes along and needs help just like I did. Anything helps and every dollar adds up. I wish I could thank every single person who has helped him so far and I am so blessed and thankful to have had the support I’ve had thus far with him.

Thank you,

Leah Ash

You also can find

@Rogerthepugg on Tiktok

Sophie’s Gift For Pugs Sake on Facebook