Four weeks ago, 5 year old Birdie the English setter had sudden onset neurological symptoms causing her to go almost completely blind and immobile. After a few ER visits and a neurological evaluation by a specialist, it was determined Birdie would need very expensive imaging, bloodwork, and spinal/brain fluid taps. Unable to afford this treatment, we opted to treat her condition with a variety of medication, hoping one would work. She responded the meds somewhat until she plateaued. I was not sure she would live much longer, and her quality of life was not sustainable. I was considering euthanasia...until the universe had other plans.

During week 3 of her at home treatment, Birdie escaped our backyard for the first time in her life and went missing for an entire week. Being newly blind and pretty immobile, we did not think she would have traveled far, but we search for days and could not find her. Our neighbors rallied around us, and soon, by word of mouth, we discovered that Birdie had fallen into a storm drain and crawled through hundreds of feet of piping to get out (the fire department was called on 2 different occasions and she was never located in the drain system). She evaded a search dog from the amazing Austin non profit TRAPRS, and survived for nearly a week laying in a creek bed in 90 degree heat, unable to get up and walk. She was finally found by a good sam in an adjacent neighborhood, taken to a shelter, and busted out of there by a security guard after hours at 10:30pm because so many people wanted to get her home. A MIRACLE!

Her will to live is stronger than I ever knew. She is ready to fight for her life, and so am I. I will use the funds raised here to get her the MRI she desperately needs in order to get a specific diagnosis that we can treat. We will also use the funds for a spinal tap that will be performed in conjunction with the MRI. In addition, I will be doing blood panels and sending them to Michigan State and Texas A&M for special analysis. I am also hoping to get her referred to Texas A&M for treatment. I am hoping to secure funds for this testing in the next week.

Birdie is a beautiful, sweet, gentle soul and it would mean everything to our family to be able to keep fighting for her. She has proven a very strong will to keep living, and I want my children to grow up with her as she grows old. Many people came together to bring her home safely, and these efforts should not be in vain! If she can get these specialized tests, we can hopefully treat her condition acutely and give her many more years to live a happy healthy life. Also, my 2 year old can maybe stop yelling, "Birdieeeeeeee, whereee are youuuu?" Thank you for reading!