Please help: Milo’s life-saving treatment

Kiki Jackson is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hi, my name is Kelly. Some of you may know me as Kiki. My beloved 5-year old dog, Milo, spent 5-½ days in the ICU last month with a complicated life threatening illness. It was devastating, as I live alone and he is everything to me. Milo has been recovering at home the past month and thankfully is expected to make a full recovery. Throughout this ordeal, I believed his pet insurance would cover 80% of the total costs, which influenced my decision making every step of the way. Due to prior claims made during the year, I’ve since learned that I hit an annual coverage limit during his hospitalization and only 10% of the total bill will be covered, leaving $13,451 still owed after deducting the pet insurance reimbursement and my savings. I have a fixed income, do not currently have paid employment, and have limited savings. I don’t have the funds to pay the remaining amount, which is why I’m asking for help to pay for the treatments that saved Milo’s life. You can read more about our story below.

***

Milo is only 5-years old. He is affectionate, smart, and funny. He’s not just my dog; he’s my best friend, roommate, snuggle buddy, walking partner, travel companion, comic relief, and emotional support. We’ve developed a strong bond over the past three years, which has deepened through all the training we’ve done in obedience, scent work, and cooperative vet care. I’ve invested a great deal of my heart, time, and resources into helping him be a calm, happy, healthy, and well-behaved dog.

On December 10th, Milo woke with diarrhea, which increased in frequency over the next 8 hours. When it turned to blood, I rushed him to the animal hospital. The bleeding continued and his breathing became labored. He was admitted to the hospital early the next morning. Several hours later I learned that Milo had severe gastroenteritis and sepsis. Chest x-rays showed that he’d also developed aspiration pneumonia, likely from the one time he vomited the day before. He was transferred to the ICU, and the internal medicine service took over his case. Later in his stay he was also found to have DIC, a coagulation disorder that was making it hard to get the bleeding under control.

Each step of Milo’s treatment escalation, each decision, was just approving the next procedure (oral antibiotics, IV fluids, IV antibiotics, a urinary catheter, a nasogastric feeding tube, and finally a blood transfusion). His doctor kept thinking that each next procedure could be where he turned the corner and beat the infection, and he could be out of the hospital in another 1-2 days. So each day it was hard to draw the line and stop treatment, since we kept thinking the worst was behind him. The doctors and techs were truly great, they saved his life, but nobody knew how severe it was or how long it would take to heal. In the end, it took 3 days to get the infection under control, and 3 more days before he could leave the hospital. It has been a long recovery period at home as he rebuilds a new intestinal lining. His appetite has returned, he’s regained weight, his energy and personality are back to normal, and he’s more affectionate than ever. I’m relieved to say he’s still expected to make a full recovery.

I was stunned and panicked when I found out Milo’s pet insurance would only be covering 10% of his bills and not 80% like I’d been expecting. There was no way I could pay for all of the care he received. As difficult as it is to ask for financial assistance, that is when I decided to turn to GoFundMe and call upon the support of my community. Looking back on this ordeal, if I had known up front how expensive it would have gotten, I would have known I couldn’t afford it. It would have broken my heart to decline treatment for Milo and euthanize him, but I would have had to do it. The way the costs for tests, treatments, and supportive care were being added each day, it was very difficult for me to say no to any one of the life-saving steps. We’d come so far, and with what was known at the time of each decision, it didn’t make sense to withdraw care when he still had such a good chance of making a full recovery. And at the time, I still thought pet insurance would be covering the majority of his bills.

Milo was discharged from the hospital on December 16th. He’s continued to recover at home, albeit slower than expected. We may never know exactly what caused him to first become sick. His doctor believes it was likely a virus or toxic ingestion. I feel incredibly lucky that he survived, but now I need help paying the bills for the doctors, techs, and treatments that saved his life. The amount that pet insurance covered, along with my savings, have been subtracted from the total bill and are not reflected in the total amount I’m trying to raise here. I humbly ask you to donate if you’re able and/or to share this fundraiser within your circles. Every donation, no matter how much, will help. And all donations will go directly toward paying for the remainder of Milo’s bills. Thank you so much for your consideration.

Adoption Day - December 6, 2020