Hi, my name is Alyssa & I am trying to fundraise to help my family & I cover the hospital bills for our dog who recently passed away.

My family & I were blessed to have spent 5 years & 8 months with Snow. We got her on May 23rd, 2018 & she passed away on November 28th, 2023. She got sick out of no where & it progressed really fast.

To give you a little back story on what happened: we took Snow to the vet on Friday, 11/24 because she started limping out of no where. She was not eating or drinking, & did not really have energy to do any activities. They ran some tests & said it was her vertebrae & that the pain was causing the loss of appetite & energy. We went home with pain medications but we did not really see much progress from that. We decided to take her back to the vet on Monday, 11/27 to run more tests. They diagnosed her with pancreatitis & found out that her platelet level was very low (normal range was from 151-600 & hers was at 9). Vet said she was in critical condition & referred us to VCA Emergency Animal Hospital & Referral Center.

We took her in immediately. They ran more blood work, ultrasound to check the extent of the pancreatitis, & an x-ray of her lungs because of her labored breathing. The lung ultrasound & x-ray confirmed that she had Necrotizing Pneumonia. The doctor also informed us that her platelet level had dropped to 0-1 within the span of 2-3 hours & found that her chest was filled with fluid. She gave us an option to perform Thoracentesis to help remove excess fluid in her lungs. Unfortunately, due to her platelet level, it was too risky as this could cause heavy bleeding. The other option was to give her broad spectrum IV antibiotics to treat the Necrotizing Pneumonia. She was placed in an oxygen chamber with continuous 55% oxygen flow. They kept her overnight & monitored her closely.

We got updates that same night after dropping her off as well as the following morning on her progress. They were not good; she was declining fast. We got to visit her the next day at around 11:40 AM. As soon as she saw us, she got up & barked 3 times. She got really excited & the doctor was concerned as she was already having difficulty breathing. Getting her excited could tire her out easily & make her case worse.

We were escorted to a room to give Snow some time to calm down. The doctor discussed some options with us since Snow wasn’t getting any better. They said we can either continue with the treatment plan or put her down. We knew we wanted to fight for her until the end so we decided to go around & find supplies to have an oxygen set up at home.

An hour later, I got THE call I was fearing the most. The doctor said her breathing got worse & that she wasn’t sure if she was going to make it any longer. We were 9 minutes away from the hospital; those 9 minutes felt like forever. We prayed & hoped to get at least 15 more minutes with her just so we can see her & tell her our goodbyes. We wanted to be able to thank her for everything she has done for us. For 5 years & 8 months, she filled our home with unconditional love. She touched many people’s lives because her love was so genuine & non-judgmental.

Unfortunately, she passed away 2 minutes after that phone call. It was the most painful thing to witness.. seeing her get wheeled into the room on the stretcher with her favorite blanket over her when we were used to seeing her face light up, eyes wide open, & tail wagging every time she would enter the same room we were in.

I wish things had turned out differently, but I know our sweet little angel fought as hard she could. She is now pain-free, running freely with all the other dogs in doggy heaven.. eating unlimited boiled chicken & jerky treats.

We do not regret doing everything we could to try to save her. We did not even think about the hospital bills during this battle- Snow never gave up on us & we couldn’t give up on her.. especially during this time when we knew she needed us the most.

Any donation will help. Our bill at the Emergency Hospital reached $4,900 & the bill from her vet appointment was $450.

Any donation will be greatly appreciated.