Friends,

Many of you may already know that our beloved Juca has been bravely fighting health issues since September. Over the past few weeks, he’s made multiple trips to the hospital, suffering from open lesions on his face and body—wounds too painful to share with our fellow dog lovers. The doctors at AMC Schwarzman Animal Hospital are still searching for answers, suspecting an immune-mediated skin disease that has caused severe lesions and a staph infection. Thanks to weeks of steroids, antibiotics, and other treatments, his wounds have finally started to heal, and we’re seeing new skin grow. But just as we felt some relief, the medication treating his underlying disease caused a bleeding ulcer in his stomach, sending us back to the hospital only days ago.

Last night, after a life-saving blood transfusion at the ER, we had a serious conversation with his doctor about Juca’s quality of life. Despite everything, neither the doctor nor we believe it’s time to say goodbye. While we can’t predict how much time we have left with him, we’re not ready to let go. Unfortunately, the financial burden of his care has become more than we can manage. As of today, we’ve spent over $18,000, with only $963 covered by his insurance. We are still working with AMC’s insurance specialist, and while we hope more of the costs will be covered, we don’t have guarantees.

The doctors are cautiously optimistic that, if his blood levels remain stable, Juca could come home soon to reunite with his best buddy, Seymour, which would mean the ulcer is starting to heal.

My sister Natalia and I have been through a lot of loss in our lives, but nothing prepared us for how emotionally, physically, and financially draining it would be to care for our senior dog through this battle. Juca is more than a pet—he’s been a constant source of joy and love. We’re doing everything we can to give him the best care possible, but we need your help.

We are humbly asking for any contributions you can offer to help us keep our boy alive. If we haven’t shared the Google Docs link with the invoices and medical records with you yet, and you would like access, please send me a note. If you’d prefer, you can make a direct payment to AMC by calling [phone redacted] Ext. 8305 and providing client ID 1195753.

If you’re unable to contribute, your love, support, and kind words are deeply appreciated. Your strength and encouragement will help carry us through this incredibly difficult time.

Thank you for all the love you’ve shown us and Juca all these years and for all the times you funcles, faunts and Dogfathers helped us raise him . ❤️ We will keep everyone updated on his health progress and current invoice information here.