The Duke is an impossibly handsome dog. I mean, look at the guy. How can you not fall in love with him?

Duke is an integral part of our family, and he and Chaz have been through it all together. At 7 years old, he’s already cheated death after dealing with a gastrointestinal infection that left him fighting for his life. He recovered and life has been smooth sailing until a few days ago.

On Wednesday night, Duke refused dinner and spent the evening shaking profusely. He seemed to recover alright and the next morning, we took a nice long walk around the neighborhood. Upon returning home, Duke threw up. There was a piece of wood in his vomit, which is odd, because he is not the type to eat stuff off the ground. I immediately put him on chicken and rice and took him into the vet Friday morning. 

We thought that perhaps his gastro issues had returned, which was our worst nightmare. He was sent home with anti anxiety meds and anti diarrhea meds, in preparation for his x rays today (Saturday).

We ended up rushing him to the emergency vet at midnight last night because he was shaking and it appeared he was attempting to throw up. The vet determined him to be okay, and hisanti anxiety meds helped him sleep through the night. 

The outlook for Duke isn’t so great. He had x rays today, and his blood work revealed that he has Lyme disease. Eight of ten dogs can live normally with Lyme. Duke has fallen into the percentage that cannot and it is potentially fatal. 

We receive the remainder of our results early next week and we are truly hoping for the best- that Duke can live with this disease and beat it down. 

We know times are so hard right now and we’re all facing a unique set of challenges. If you have anything to spare to help cover these unexpected costs, you have our eternal appreciation.

Duke is a part of what makes this family so special. He is a major source of comfort to Chaz (especially his intuition in helping Chaz rest when his PTSD flares up), he’s Tish’s buddy and he is my sweet boy. We cannot imagine life without him and we hope we don’t have to.

Thank you, so very much.