Gary's Lifesaving Surgery

Asking for help is difficult. Our life mission has always been to help, so seeking it is foreign and painful but losing our Gary is unbearable to consider.

Here is our story.

My husband and I are military and we also run a nonprofit animal rescue. We often take medical and behavioral cases many would shy away from. Because money is only money but life isn't replaceable. Unfortunately, we have found ourselves in the position where we are struggling to help our own family member.

When my husband and I married, we added Keno to our family. He was a beautiful little parti pomeranian. And we loved him fiercely. He moved across the country with us several times. Watched our family grow by 4 sons. And we were blessed with his presence for 17 years. When we lost him, I decided to fill our hearts again with joy for hopefully the next 17 years. And so we brought Gary home.

Gary doesn't fill Keno's void but he has filled a void we never knew existed. Gary was born February 2023. He is just a baby, we affectionately call him Gare-bear, and we adore him. On Friday, August 18th, we were concerned at Gary's behavior. Just not himself and threw up his food. Knowing the signs and symptoms of parvo and the risks with running a rescue (we pull a lot from the reservations and pounds and parvo is rampant) and even though he was fully vaccinated and we have sound sanitizing procedures in place, we ran a test. It came back slightly positive but with a control error which was alarming. So we went straight to the vet and started him on treatment. Over the weekend he bounced right back (we are diligent in our animals care and caught it early). Then, on Wednesday, he started severe diarrhea with refusal to drink. So our vet prescribed metronidazole. On Thursday I really was concerned. The vomiting started again so we went back to our vet after work and he was started on the Cerenia for vomiting again and a different antibiotic. Friday we rushed him in to the vet yet again and they ran another parvo test. Positive with a positive control which is another faulty test. Ran two more. Both negative. Everyone is confused now. We did bloodwork. His protein levels were 1...he was dying and rapidly. He was pooping straight liquid and blood. So they ran his Chem bloodwork three times because his levels were so wonky they thought machine fault. He had ulcers in his mouth. Kidney failure? No, Kidney function was good. So we did an xray. He had what looked like air in his abdomen. A consult was placed with an emergency clinic 4 hrs away because exploratory surgery in his condition would kill him. He needed a plasma transfusion first. The specialty clinic agreed. So we rushed straight to Fargo after they got a line for fluids in. I didn't even change out of uniform.

2 hrs into the drive, Gary started vomiting blood. I was losing him and I couldnt get to the vet fast enough. We ran into the hospital at midnight and he was immediately taken back for triage. He went into surgery at 0300 in the morning on Saturday the 26th. A week after his initial symptoms. I was trying to rest in my vehicle in the parking lot but was pretty unsuccessful and at 0310, the surgeon called. Gary had a perforation and the location was the worst possible. He had somehow ulcerated and right where the intestines connect to the stomach. A traditional repair was not an option and the chances of removing the bad tissue and closing successfully were also bleak. We said try anyway. How could we not? We love him. Gary came out of surgery by Gods graces. He was removed from plasma transfusions and the NG tube feedings a week later. He had his stomach drain removed and his IV pain meds. But unfortunately he then went 8 hrs with no interest in food so the NG tube was replaced and we had to cancel our plans to pick him up (29 Aug).

The really scary part is that he was at high risk of a re-rupture of the repair in the 3-7 day post repair window. He came home at day 5. And this would be deadly.

Overall, the cost of his care between emergency visits ans ICU care with surgery has been $13,000.

His care has been extensive and expensive. I'm terrified. I know many people would consider us crazy and would have just euthanized. And maybe we are. We just didn't think it would be so much but he is worth it. He is family. This bill is just for his specialty care.

And now that we are healing inside and past the scare window of re-rupture, we face another challenge. Gary still hasn't been able to without screaming pain and vomiting. He has been diagnosed with esophageal stricture, a complication from anesthesia. And this requires another several thousand dollar surgery to resolve. 

I'm just defeated. We have given so much to the rescue animals with For Belle's Sake Rescue and I've failed my own family. I feel like a complete failure. We did everything "right" but somehow it wasn't enough for Gary. Anything you can do to help towards his bill so we can afford his last surgery and his next. I mean that. A single penny we are grateful for. It has been such a difficult few weeks and our stomachs are in knots all day every day. I don't want to shut the rescue down but I may need to take an actual second paying job to afford this bill. And I can't do 3 full time jobs and still be a mom. Since the rescue is all volunteer and we pay for a lot personally to keep it going and save the animals, I'm just not seeing another way. As it is, I am looking at selling some of my animals from our hobby farm to make ends meet. My little bull Leonard, and my ponies Skip and Scotch. And maybe my little donkey Elliott. Makes me sick to my stomach.

If you can help, our family would be eternally grateful. We love our boy.

Venmo: https://venmo.com/Gary_Bird