Help us help Loki

Hi. My name is Loki and that picture up there was taken my first night home from the hospital. It felt good to finally be home and be with my mom and dad. The people at the hospital were nice, but mom and dad are family. They saved me from the shelter with my brother, Odin, and I love them more than almost everything. I love my crunchy treats but I can't have them right now. I'm still recovering from being sick. But hopefully soon I can have them and maybe soon I can have the other things I like.

But my story starts last week. On Wednesday night everything seemed normal. It wasn't, but my mom didn't know that. She thought everything was good because I'd been eating like I've never eaten before. I can be a bit stubborn and a little finicky, but I was so hungry and all I wanted was food. But Wednesday night (November 10th) something weird happened. One of my eyes started to cloud over. It was a struggle to see and it definitely scared my mom, but my mom thought it was possibly an eye infection of some sort. Later that morning, my eye was clear and my mom thought maybe it was just a strange fluke. She still called our regular vet and because of this crazy world we live in she could only get a drop off appointment. But she knew it was better to get checked out than to let this get worse. Twelve hours after my one eye clouded up, the opposite eye did the same thing. And this time there was something going on with my ear. I was shaking my head and scratching at it. That was when my mom thought it was an ear infection that might have gotten out of control. With the vet appointment she thought everything would be okay.

It wasn't.

The next morning I felt worse. I was hungry, but I looked at my breakfast and I couldn't eat it. I was thirsty but when I went to the water fountain it was like I couldn't see it. My mom was really scared and I could feel it in the way she started to rush around. I just wanted to go back to how things used to be. My mom called around and found a place that would take us that didn't have long waits. We drove around forever it felt like and when we finally got to the vet (an emergency vet in Mount Vernon, Washington), they looked me over. The woman noticed my eyes were two different sizes. That was never good news. When she came back again she told my mom and dad I needed a specialist. My mom broke down over that and I was scared, too. I was scared the whole time. I didn't feel good but I also didn't want to be in the car. I wanted to be home. I wanted my mom.

My parents didn't know if they could find someone to help. The world was crazy and finding people who would help was difficult. But they got lucky. They found someone in Seattle and while it meant another long drive at least someone was going to help. I could tell my parents were scared, but when the next person whisked me away they hoped that they could help me. What felt like forever and I was being reunited with my parents again. They found out I had diabetes, pancreatitis and something called Horner's Syndrome. I don't know what that is but apparently it explains why my third eyelid is visible in one of my eyes. Unfortunately, they couldn't let me stay. They were full and I needed to go somewhere else. Luckily, they found someone. And even better it was close to home.

They rushed me up there and they whisked me away from my parents again. I didn't know what was going on but they told my parents that I was really sick and that I needed to stay at least a couple of days in the hospital. That turned into five full days and a diagnosis of pancreatitis, diabetes, underlying inflammatory bowl disease, and Horner's Syndrome. It wasn't easy for my parents to take. Especially when they got the news that I was stable but that I wasn't eating. My mom knows I won't eat around strangers. Though, they did find my weakness. I love turkey. And they gave me turkey baby food. It was good and it meant that I was a step closer to going home. They let me go on Tuesday (November 16th) but I had to go back Wednesday morning for my insulin shot. My parents also had to get insulin for me.

Now that I'm home I'm feeling more like myself. I'm eating. Even better I'm eating without the medicine they were giving me to make me eat. We're still struggling with getting my blood sugar to stabilise, but I know I have loving parents behind me who will help. My family just needs your help, too.

Unfortunately, the time Loki spent in the hospitals racked up an $14,000 hospital bill. We need your help in paying off those bills. Every cent that is raised with this campaign will go directly towards paying those bills and anything left will go into keeping him healthy and stable. Anything you can give will be greatly appreciated.