Hi! My name is Jace and this is my dog, Shay - but we all call her Tay Tay. Tay is almost 8, and in November 2025, she started experiencing bizarre medical issues that have persisted, ebbed, and flowed through to today. The vets have struggled to truly pinpoint what is wrong with her, and she is rapidly deteriorating. I am continuing to try and chase down answers to the best of my ability and within reason, but it has been the most heartbreaking experience watching an otherwise bright, happy, loving baby girl become so sad and clearly in pain. As it stands, her bills are totaling $7,500, and I hate that I feel like I have to do this - but I am here to ask for support and help in paying for her care. She's the light of my life, and I know she has so much more life to live if we could just figure out what the hell is going on.

All the details if you want them:

In November, a week or so prior to Thanksgiving, I noticed that she looked puffy through her neck and lower face. I was going out of town for the weekend and my friend stayed with her and all weekend she noted that she just looked puffy but otherwise everything else was completely normal. When I got back from my trip, I noticed she had a large 5cm firm but moveable lump on the right side of her throat right under her jaw which did not present as painful when palpated. On Thanksgiving day, I took her to the vet where they gave us antibiotics. She responded immediately to the antibiotics and the mass and swelling went away.

Several weeks later after finishing her course of antibiotics, she started acting off. For several days she became sluggish and less full of life, but again, otherwise normal (eating, drinking, etc.). Eventually, my friend suggested I take her temperature and when I did I noted she was running a fever of just over 103. Over the next few hours her fever surpassed 104 and I took her to an urgent care. They ran a couple of tests but nothing of particular note was found. They gave us fluids and sent us home.

The next day her fever remained and that night spiked to a dangerous degree again. I took her into a different urgent care where they did an ultrasound of her belly and chest with no findings and ran some blood work with no findings. They gave her more fluids and decided to restart antibiotics. We noted at this time that a new swollen bump had emerged on the left side of her face along her cheekbone.

The following day her fever was still not resolved and we ended up in urgent care again. More fluids and additional blood work was performed with no findings. At this point they start her on prednisone. Her fever immediately responds to the first dose of prednisone and both her swelling and fever resolve over the course of a month with antibiotics and steroids.

Several weeks later (and most recently), I noted that she was developing a similar swollen bump on the right side of her face. I took her into a different vet who determined she had a cracked carnassial molar and wanted to extract it, hoping this was the cause of everything. We started antibiotics and a non-steroid anti-inflammatory - neither of which resolved the new swelling. There was no fever this time and again, all other behaviors were normal. Over the course of the weekend between that initial visit and her scheduled sedated dental, her swelling spread to encompass her entire face. She also developed a hive which became scabbed over while she was laying in the grass (unclear if this is related at this time). She went in for her dental where they took scans of her skull, teeth, and chest and removed her tooth which did not present with any sign of significant infection once removed.

Since her dental, the swelling in her face has remained. Her pre-dental blood work and x-rays were all unremarkable aside from a possible foreign body that might be located in her face (possibly a shard of something or a foxtail, we do not know still). Her single hive has also developed into a full blown inflammatory response and she has multiple bumps and lesions which are oozing and she is losing her fur. She is not currently responding to drugs fully including benedryl, antibiotics, and non-steroid anti-inflammatories.

As of now - it's noted that she has developed a heart murmur which may be related to an infection. She is running a low grade fever now. She has edema in her limbs. Our next course of action is to run a cardiogram of her heart and CT her head to see if this helps us understand where to go next. Beyond this, I'm unsure what we can do for her and I am rapidly running out of my ability to support her financially.

Thank you for absolutely anything you do to help, even if that is just sharing her with your friends and family.