Ryan Lane and Brian Cole have rescue dogs in their homes. We strive to help animals by adopting rescue dogs. Earl Grey is one of them. Earl Grey was rescued and brought to our home in February 2018 as a foster, but since no one was able to adopt him, we decided to adopt him. Seven years later, he was brought to the vet for blood in his urine, and we found out his liver enzymes had escalated. We were told by our vet to go to an animal hospital that specializes in livers and biopsies in Tarzana, CA, in May of 2023.

Before we knew what the road would lead us to, the hospital charged us $14,000 for his visit. The biopsy was $8,000 alone, not counting walk-in fees, medications, etc. We had to apply for CareCredit to help offset the cost, which we are still paying for. They told us he needs to be on three types of medications: Prednisone, Denamarin, and a third drug (which we stopped immediately as he had continuous vomiting from that drug). We believed it would be temporary. As months went by, Earl Grey was having side effects from the Prednisone: loss of muscles, loss of hair, vomiting, weakness, and weight loss. We worked so hard to fight this. We wanted him off Prednisone, but the vets and hospital said no, he cannot be off of it.

His liver enzymes never went down. In February of 2024, his count was 435, which was three times the normal level. Then we had him tested again in June. It did not go down. Ryan and Brian tried to work on a stricter diet for Earl Grey. In August of 2024, he went in for bloodwork and started to get a bacterial infection on his back, which had bubbles and hair loss. He was put on antibiotics and antibiotic cream for his back. Three and a half weeks later, at the end of August 2024, he went back in because he was being lethargic. The vet said he is now diabetic. Three weeks ago, he was not. Now, all of a sudden, he became diabetic? The most recent vet asked why he is on Prednisone. Ryan and Brian were like, what do you mean why? Because of his liver. The vet said Prednisone actually makes the liver worse, and now it has affected his pancreas. Ryan and Brian were very upset and angry about how they are constantly getting different information on how to treat Earl Grey, which he is suffering due to their "ignorance" on how to care for him. They spent eight hours at the vet on August 29th, Thursday of 2024, to find out he became extremely lethargic where he could not walk, get up, or go to the bathroom. We had to take him to the E.R. Animal Hospital in Corona.

We were grateful that the hospital in Corona was helpful and more explanatory about Earl Grey's illness. We started asking them about Prednisone. They were wary about the drug, saying it does help but at the same time hurts dogs with liver disease. Prednisone long-term can cause them to have Cushing's disease, which Earl Grey now has, causing his diabetes. In August alone, we spent over $4,000, which we had to borrow some of that money again.

He is now on six types of drugs, which is infuriating for both of us since drugs always have side effects. We discussed with the most recent vet and the hospital that he needs to be off Prednisone, but unfortunately, it's not a drug you can immediately stop. It is a drug that must be slowly ended, which it will be by the weekend of September 6th.

But he will be on insulin shots for the rest of his life. He has to be on diabetic dog food, but he is not allowed to due to his liver enzymes, so we will continue to, as the vet recommended, stick with a hepatic dog food diet to focus on his liver healing while his sugar can be regulated by insulin shots.

We are creating this GoFundMe because we are in a desperate state. Brian was laid off from his teaching job and only has one job, and Ryan only has one income. We are known to have a car wash business, but it's not doing great where we can make ends meet.

We are aiming to pay off our CareCredit, which we are two months behind on because of this recent hospital visit. We had to pay them instead of the loan. Many said to create a GoFundMe to help Earl Grey and so we can continue his treatment.

Right now, we have done everything we can for Earl Grey, which we have spent $25,000 since May 2023. We do have pet insurance, but they only cap at $2,500. You know how insurance can be. We cannot revise his insurance plans due to a "pre-existing condition," so we're stuck with his current plan.

This will help us all a lot. Even if it's $5.00, a little does add up. Where we can seek relief for us all and Earl Grey's treatment. We had to turn down some of his treatments due to lack of money, but we believe Earl Grey does have time. He is only seven years old.