My name is Emily (Daughter of Jacqueline and Sister of Daisy). This fundraiser is all about our Bloodhound, Daisy Mae. We rescued her 2 years ago. She was extremely emaciated and had been through numerous foster homes. Despite her less-than-optimal first 9 months of life, she was the most grateful and sweetest dog we had ever met. She quickly warmed up to our cat Howie and they became best friends. The first time we gave her a toy she was in absolute awe over it like she couldn't believe we'd gotten her something. Even though my mom Jackie was the one who adopted her, she became obsessed with me. Daisy runs to me whenever she's overwhelmed or scared. I’ve never heard her growl at anything and she really just loves everybody. She’s recently become involved in my JROTC unit and has become a favorite around the corps. She went a whole 14 miles with us and was up and running around again after a quick nap. She’s incredibly smart, resilient, and always happy. That’s why we knew something was up when Friday, June 6th she wasn’t eating and appeared restless and very uncomfortable. She refused to eat or drink anything and was profusely throwing up. As a police officer, my mom works 12-hour shifts but was visiting her often throughout the night to check on her. When she came home, she found that Daisy had thrown up an immense amount in only four hours. At 1 am on Saturday, June 7th, Mom brought Daisy to NC State Emergency Veterinary Hospital. After taking X-rays, it was obvious that she had a large amount of foreign material in her small intestines. They admitted her to the hospital and put her on IV fluids, hoping the foreign material would move through her intestines.

After 8 hours, the doctor called and informed us that Daisy would need surgery to remove the material. Of course, mom told them to do whatever they needed to, but this came with a cost. $7000 down payment to do the surgery. This was after we had already put down $1500 for the hospital stay and X-rays. Thankfully, they were able to take Care Credit for the payment.

We immediately left for the hospital so that we could be there when she got out of surgery.

I am a single mom raising my daughter. I work 1 full-time job and a second part-time job. We have two other dogs at home, one who is diabetic and requires insulin twice a day.

Daisy Mae is my child, so I will do whatever is necessary for her. But any assistance with this costly emergency would be incredible. We actually arrived just in time to see her before she went back for surgery. She was completely out of it and it was obvious that she was in distress. The only part of her behavior that we knew and recognized was when she laid down and rested her head on my legs. We ended up sitting in the waiting room for 4 hours anxiously waiting for our Daisy-Mae to make it out. At around 11pm the vet came out and told us she had made it through. They recommended that we not visit with her right away but that we could come back the next day to see her.

We went home and returned the following morning. Daisy was taken off her I.V. to visit with us for about 20 minutes. She was still refusing to eat and after about 15 minutes, it was obvious she was in pain. They returned her to her kennel and put her back on her pain medication.

Finally, on Monday, June 9th, the hospital called and told us that Daisy had started to be weaned off her pain medication and could go home that afternoon. Her next 4 days would be a critical part of her recovery. She was strictly prohibited from playing or jumping on any furniture. She had an incision on her abdomen that was approximately 5 inches long. The doctor advised that she needed to wear a cone to ensure that she did not lick the incision. Daisy Mae is still recovering but she is improving every day. We are extremely thankful for all the doctors and staff at NC State Veterinary Hospital for taking such amazing care of her. It was difficult with her being away for 4 days and we cannot imagine what would have happened without the doctors that cared for her.

The total cost for Daisy’s care ended up being $7,000. The hospital actually refunded the initial $1500 upon discharge. This fundraiser is to help us with the cost of the vet bills so that we can pay off the Care Credit Card before the 30% interest fees apply. We are thankful for having the Care Credit option but for a single mom, this is definitely a difficult time. Anyone who is willing and able to contribute to Daisy’s medical bills would be another blessing for us. Thank you to everyone that took the time to read this and Thank You to everyone who called and messaged us asking about her. She is currently on the road to recovery.