Vet bills
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My name is Samantha Luckenbaugh and I am from Vancouver, WA. Between September 6th and October 13th we have been hit with unimaginable vet bills between 3 of my horses and my Great Dane Yogi. In a timespan of less than 40 days we have had to come up with $6,176.68 in vet bills and even more in supplies used to clean wounds and care for our sick horses. I have been doing everything in my power to help my animals. I have been working and attending full time college classes for the last two years completing my prerequisites for the nursing program at Clark College which has already put a financial strain on myself and my family. While I am awaiting acceptance into the program I have been working full time; any dime of savings I had is gone, my care credit is maxed out, I have sold the majority of my tack including the saddle that I saved up for years to buy. My animals mean everything to me and I have been doing my best to find the money to continue their care but there doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel and there are other bills that need to be paid so I am at a loss. I applied for Care Credit months ago as a “just in case”, however, I don’t know how anyone could plan for the kind experience we have been through. The photos below tell a story on their own, and I don’t want this to be an entire essay, but I would like to walk you through a timeline of the last 30 days.
Below is a compilation of the piling vet bills – the amount pictured below adds up to $6,026.68, the only bill not included was the most recent check up from 10/13 which was an additional $150 amounting to the overall total of $6,176.68. I have felt awful about the idea of a GoFundMe but things just seem to be getting worse and I am going into overwhelming debt. Debt that must be paid back. Debt that I cannot afford, especially once the nursing program starts in the Spring. Right now the minimum payment for my CareCredit is $350/month, my epileptic Great Dane still needs his Keppra which runs $150/month, the horses still need to eat, need their feet trimmed, and I still need to pay my rent. At the rate things are going there is no way to continue the level of care needed or spring for any more farm calls. Cherokee has yet to turn a corner and will likely need further medical attention and Chronic is going to need a recheck for her chest soon if the abscess does not open.
September 6th – First farm call for Chronic and Dale’s suspected pigeon fever
September 9th – Recheck exam for complications Chronic experienced due to the pigeon fever.
September 13th – Yogi needed emergency surgery to repair GDV (bloat) and a gastropexy surgery to prevent recurrence.
October 6th – Emergency farm call for Dale for a cornea ulcer. The wonderful vet a Columbia Equine also lanced Chronic’s mammary abscess at this time as it had been an entire month of misery and being told to “wait it out”.
October 8th – Farm call for Cherokee, our 20-year-old gelding started running a fever out of the blue. Diagnosed with a level 3 heart murmur and ran some bloodwork to look for infection.
October 9th – Farm call #2 for Cherokee as his fever had not yet broken and was now experiencing labored breathing and swelling of the legs. Sent out bloodwork to check for internal pigeon fever infection (results still pending) and started on injectable antibiotics.
October 13th – Farm call #3 for Cherokee for a recheck exam and his second injection of antibiotics.
Which brings us to now – Chronic is still fighting large pigeon fever abscesses covering her chest, stomach, and mammary glands. Cherokee is not fully recovered, swelling of the legs is still a prominent concern. Yogi requires a recheck as soon as possible as he has a hard time keeping food down since his surgery, otherwise he is in good spirits and overall stable.
Any donation is greatly appreciated and will be put towards the animals continued care and paying down the piling debt. At this point I can only hope that everyone begins to turn a corner. I have owned Cherokee for 9 years, Chronic and Yogi have both been with me since they were 4 months old and they are now nearly 5 and 6 respectively. I understand greatly that owning animals is a responsibility and I have been working full time and paying for all of their care since I was 16 years old. The way that everything has fallen apart one after another is unreal and incredibly difficult. I work 9 hour shifts and go straight to the barn to spend 2 hours caring for the horses every single night. I spend every second of the day worrying that Yogi is going to relapse or wondering what could possibly go wrong next with my herd. At this point the only thing that can help is some financial relief because the stress of everything combined is becoming crippling.
Thank you for any consideration or for even just sharing this post.
September 6th - The beginning stages of pigeon fever on my filly.
September 13th – Emergency surgery to save Yogi.
September 29th - Chronic and Dale's abscesses continued to worsen.
October 6th – Dales eye injury
October 7th – Dale’s eye improving significantly because of quick action.
October 11th – Chronic’s chest abscess could not be drained and has not improved.
October 8th – Cherokee eating after receiving pain medication to lower his fever.
Chronic requires daily heat packing of her chest abscess in hopes that it will draw out the abscess.
Below is a compilation of the piling vet bills – the amount pictured below adds up to $6,026.68, the only bill not included was the most recent check up from 10/13 which was an additional $150 amounting to the overall total of $6,176.68. I have felt awful about the idea of a GoFundMe but things just seem to be getting worse and I am going into overwhelming debt. Debt that must be paid back. Debt that I cannot afford, especially once the nursing program starts in the Spring. Right now the minimum payment for my CareCredit is $350/month, my epileptic Great Dane still needs his Keppra which runs $150/month, the horses still need to eat, need their feet trimmed, and I still need to pay my rent. At the rate things are going there is no way to continue the level of care needed or spring for any more farm calls. Cherokee has yet to turn a corner and will likely need further medical attention and Chronic is going to need a recheck for her chest soon if the abscess does not open.
September 6th – First farm call for Chronic and Dale’s suspected pigeon fever
September 9th – Recheck exam for complications Chronic experienced due to the pigeon fever.
September 13th – Yogi needed emergency surgery to repair GDV (bloat) and a gastropexy surgery to prevent recurrence.
October 6th – Emergency farm call for Dale for a cornea ulcer. The wonderful vet a Columbia Equine also lanced Chronic’s mammary abscess at this time as it had been an entire month of misery and being told to “wait it out”.
October 8th – Farm call for Cherokee, our 20-year-old gelding started running a fever out of the blue. Diagnosed with a level 3 heart murmur and ran some bloodwork to look for infection.
October 9th – Farm call #2 for Cherokee as his fever had not yet broken and was now experiencing labored breathing and swelling of the legs. Sent out bloodwork to check for internal pigeon fever infection (results still pending) and started on injectable antibiotics.
October 13th – Farm call #3 for Cherokee for a recheck exam and his second injection of antibiotics.
Which brings us to now – Chronic is still fighting large pigeon fever abscesses covering her chest, stomach, and mammary glands. Cherokee is not fully recovered, swelling of the legs is still a prominent concern. Yogi requires a recheck as soon as possible as he has a hard time keeping food down since his surgery, otherwise he is in good spirits and overall stable.
Any donation is greatly appreciated and will be put towards the animals continued care and paying down the piling debt. At this point I can only hope that everyone begins to turn a corner. I have owned Cherokee for 9 years, Chronic and Yogi have both been with me since they were 4 months old and they are now nearly 5 and 6 respectively. I understand greatly that owning animals is a responsibility and I have been working full time and paying for all of their care since I was 16 years old. The way that everything has fallen apart one after another is unreal and incredibly difficult. I work 9 hour shifts and go straight to the barn to spend 2 hours caring for the horses every single night. I spend every second of the day worrying that Yogi is going to relapse or wondering what could possibly go wrong next with my herd. At this point the only thing that can help is some financial relief because the stress of everything combined is becoming crippling.
Thank you for any consideration or for even just sharing this post.
September 6th - The beginning stages of pigeon fever on my filly.
September 13th – Emergency surgery to save Yogi.
September 29th - Chronic and Dale's abscesses continued to worsen.
October 6th – Dales eye injury
October 7th – Dale’s eye improving significantly because of quick action.
October 11th – Chronic’s chest abscess could not be drained and has not improved.
October 8th – Cherokee eating after receiving pain medication to lower his fever.
Chronic requires daily heat packing of her chest abscess in hopes that it will draw out the abscess.
Organizer
Samantha Luckenbaugh
Organizer
Vancouver, WA