Emergency Care for Lawrence

*UPDATE: We are completely heartbroken to let you all know that we had to say goodbye to our good good boy yesterday afternoon. His condition got worse and started to lead to other issues in his body. We are so devastated, and will be grieving this loss for a long time. Thank you all for your support and kindness during this time. We are so grateful.

On Friday, August 4th, our sweet beautiful poodle, Lawrence, was diagnosed with a severe infection of the kidneys due to leptospirosis, as well as Lyme disease. Both are treatable diseases, but unfortunately, our vet believes that the leptospirosis has done significant damage to Lawrence’s kidneys, and our course of action right now is an intensive antibiotic treatment three times a day. For this reason, Lawrence has remained at an emergency vet since Friday, and his health, and particularly his fluids are being carefully monitored by veterinarians and staff who have become very familiar to us in a short amount of time.

To say we are distraught does not begin to cover it. Seeing our sweet boy in this kind of setting, and the confusion in his eyes when we walk away after a visit is absolutely heart wrenching. It feels like life has slowed down without our boy home.

The vets are hopeful, and believe that as long as the antibiotics are able to treat and eliminate the infection in his kidneys, Lawrence may be able to return to a somewhat normal life. The course of action to get there, however, will be lengthy and costly. At this point, it is crucial to his health that he remains at the emergency vet, as his intake and outtake of fluids is very important and must be closely monitored. On several occasions, the veterinarians on staff have indicated that it could take up to four weeks until Lawrence is fully recovered (if full recovery is even possible). Each day that he remains at the emergency vet is costing us roughly $1000 CAD. As this is necessary care at this time, there is no hesitation on our end. We just desperately want our boy back home.

With that said, and with very humble hearts, we confess that we are not wealthy people. There will come a point when Lawrence’s care will be out of our hands from a financial perspective, and we will no longer be able to cover the cost. Our savings will only take us so far.

We are investigating several options, including a hybrid model where Lawrence is monitored at another clinic during the day and then home with us in the evenings, but this will require significant improvement on his end. We have also applied to a foundation that is run by the veterinarians at the emergency clinic where Lawrence is currently staying, but they have indicated that it is extremely rare for people to get more than $1000 through these requests.

It is not easy to make this request, and again, it is with very humble hearts that we simply ask that if you are compelled to help, we would be so grateful. Any little bit makes a world of difference to us, and to Lawrence. Unfortunately, the clinic is a bit of a drive for us, but we are still trying to visit Lawrence twice a day, in between work and spending time with our sons. We will provide updates on his care and treatment as often as we can. Thank you!