The past 24 hours have been super stressful, worrisome and scary. I came home from work to find my sweet boy Dukes in severe pain. I rushed him to the vet, and just as they took him back, he went into respiratory distress. His gums turned blue, his temperature spiked to 105°F, and he was crashing fast.

The vet team acted quickly. They sedated him, intubated him, and packed him with ice and cold towels to bring his temperature down. They told me that if I had arrived even minutes later, Dukes might not have made it.

When it came time to transfer him to the emergency vet for overnight care, we hit a major roadblock—transporting him safely while he was still critical. That’s when three incredible nurses stepped up. On their own time, they volunteered to take Dukes and kept him stable the entire way, administering propofol every 10 minutes, monitoring his IV, and making sure he stayed alive. They are true heroes, and I’ll never forget what they did for him.

Once at the emergency vet, Dukes was placed in an oxygen cage and kept on sedation overnight. He saw a neurologist in the morning, and while we still don’t fully know what happened to his back, they’re managing his pain and monitoring his breathing closely. He’s on multiple medications now—pain relievers, muscle relaxers, and nerve meds.

The biggest concern was whether he could breathe on his own. Thankfully, he slowly came off sedation and oxygen and is now stable. But he’s not out of the woods yet.

Dukes still needs surgery to address the underlying issue, but they need to wait about two weeks to allow swelling and inflammation from the trach tube and respiratory distress to go down first. The surgery is estimated at $5,500. In the past 24 hours alone, I’ve already spent over $3,000, and I still have bills from the first vet.

I paid everything up front, and honestly, I’m tapped out. I’m doing everything I can to save Dukes, but I can’t do it alone. If you can help—through donations, sharing this post, or simply keeping Dukes in your thoughts and prayers—I would be incredibly grateful.

Dukes is a fighter, a survivor, and the sweetest boy. He’s already made it through so much. With your help, he can make it the rest of the way.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.