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Jayber is in critical condition!

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Jayber, our beloved 8 yr old terrier mix, has been in critical condition for the past 24 hrs, bleeding continuously, at our local emergency vet clinic for an unknown reason. We are humbly asking for your support to help keep him stabilized for further medical treatment and ultimately alive as a companion for us and our kids. He went from happy and healthy to this state in less than 8 hours and we have been in total shock since finding Jayber soaked in his own blood Sunday morning in our kitchen. He has required emergency stabilization and the emergency vet is fighting hard to determine the cause of bleeding, with hope it is an acute treatable condition.

Your financial support, whatever the amount, will help us keep him stabilized with blood and plasma transfusions until an ultrasound will be performed. Only then will the vet diagnose Jayber's condition and we can make an informed decision for treatments that support either his long term survival or end-of-life care. The treatments for stabilization in the first 24 hours and ultrasound (which cannot be performed until Monday) have already cost us $9,000, and we will continue to incur cost of blood and plasma transfusions, and all subsequent care if we do not euthanize Jayber. If you want to contribute without fees via Venmo, please text me (nine-1-zero) 2three1-67six zero or scan the Venmo QR code below.





Emergency veterinary care requires payments before each treatment round, and each stabilizing treatment Jayber receives today is already costing our family several thousand dollars, which we have minimal savings for and have already spent before 11am today.

Jayber is our only dog, adopted from Boone, NC in 2014. In this sudden crisis, it is remarkable how much Jayber feels like both a beloved child and middle-aged man best friend. He is a critical family member, teaching especially our oldest son with Autism how to care for living creatures and learning non-verbal communication from a non-speaking being. It is a challenge for our oldest son to understand emotional displays of people and animals, even though he is a deep-feeler, and in the last month, he has made substantial progress in treating Jayber with more attention and kindness, even picking out new toys for Jayber to tug as he pulls, laughing.

The full emergency story:

Our family woke up on Sunday morning (this morning!) at 7am to blood pooled everywhere on the kitchen and dining room floor, freshly pooling under our beloved dog who as of Saturday morning, seemed perfectly happy, healthy, and his usual self. He was struggling to breathe and Jaimie, having just arrived back home the night before from international travel for work, threw on clothes, dragged him gently out from under the table through his own blood and carried him to the car to rush him to critical care. Upon being emitted at the local emergency vet clinic (40 min away), we learned he was in critical condition and needed emergency stabilization. This cost was immediately $600 and within the hour he would need an emergency blood transfusion, totaling $4000 in just his first hour at the clinic.

Throughout the vet's attempted stabilization of his body temperature, blood pressure, blood loss, and various tests, the vet could only conclude that he was severely anemic and the source of the bleeding had to be in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Being a Sunday, an ultrasounographer was not onsite to determine the cause of his acute bleeding condition. The vet assured Jaimie they would work to get him and keep him stabilized until an ultrasound was available, and this likely would not be until Monday.

Sunday at 9am, Jaimie was allowed to the back treatment room to see Jayber, who was awake and under several layers of warming blankets. Care for him has never felt more important than in that moment. Speaking with the vet, Jaimie understood that the blood transfusions would need to balance the blood loss.

Returning home with both despair and hope in Jayber's care by the emergency team, Jaimie and Matt received a call at 12pm that his bleeding continued and the fight for stabilization continues. Providing another transfusion and plasma could make or break his survival, buying time for an ultrasound to determine if Jayber's condition is perfusion/ulcers and treatable or fatal cancer in the longer term.

Your financial support, even just $10, will help us keep him stabilized until tomorrow, when after an ultrasound is performed, we can make a more informed decision for his survival or end of life care.

It's remarkable what we want to do to help save our dog in a moment of crisis. Previously somewhat critical of how much someone might spend to save their companion animal, we want to do everything we can to help him keep up the good fight.

Thank you sincerely,
Jaimie, Matt, Amos, Silas, and Chili Cat

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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $20
    • 11 mos
  • laurie carson
    • $500
    • 1 yr
  • Lisa Misch
    • $25
    • 1 yr
  • lisa lazarus
    • $25
    • 1 yr
  • Jen Ellis
    • $20
    • 1 yr
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Organizer

Jaimie McGirt
Organizer
Graham, NC

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