Everyone who knows me knows that my dogs are my entire life. The same people know that I am extremely proud and I would never ask for help unless I really, truly need it. Right now, I really need it.

Today has been one of the hardest, most difficult days for me, as my dog Ruthie (Ruth Bader Ginsbark), who just turned five years old, was admitted into an animal hospital.

This past week, I noticed she hadn’t eaten much and wasn’t really moving from the bed. I switched out her food with new food a couple times, but nothing seemed to get her to eat. She threw up randomly a few times, but only water since she wouldn’t eat. One of her eyes also became increasingly cloudy over the last month and I became worried about her eyesight.

This morning (11/12), I took her to her vet. She was given emergency fluids and then a lot of tests were done. She was diagnosed with diabetes. She was then rushed to an emergency medical hospital as she was diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA).

DKA is a life-threatening condition that occurs when a diabetic dog's body starts breaking down fat too quickly, creating toxic acids that can damage vital organs. She is currently undergoing treatment and will need to be kept overnight for at least 48-72 hours. If they are able to reverse the DKA and there’s not damage to organs, she will need two insulin shots every single day for the rest of her life. This is the best-case scenario. She just turned five years old.

I am a law student who works a part-time minimum wage job on the side, and the care just for the vet visit and hospital care and stay alone are $12,000. (This is not including the insulin shots moving forward in our best case scenario.)

I am asking you to please give whatever you can, and to please share this with others. She is my whole world and we really need help right now.

Thank you for anything that you can do. It is so appreciated in ways that words could never describe. Thank you so much.

If you prefer Venmo: @Hope-ZG