Hi! My name is Natalie Watts and I am a public school teacher here in Indianapolis. My husband and I got some bad news about our dog, Pepper, this week that we very much need help with.

June 12: Pepper stopped finishing her food all the way. She normally sat politely until the thumbs up before gobbling it up.

June 14: She stopped eating entirely and even refused the bland diet of chicken and rice.

June 15th: We took Pepper to the VCA Companion to get her appetite and a few fatty lumps checked out. She still had no appetite and was noticeably lethargic.

June 16th: Pepper started having visible and audible breathing issues in addition to her loss of appetite and increasing lethargy. We took her to the emergency vet that night and learned of Pepper's inflamed liver. We were sent home with four medications and an appointment to get an ultrasound at Noah's Emergency on the south side.

June 19: Pepper had still not eaten a full meal and had only kept down one round of the most important pill: the liver stabilizers. She hardly rested the last two nights between her rapid, labored breathing and the hacking. I was instructed to take her to Noah's emergency clinic on the south slide. The vet said she had a low protein count in her blood, an enlarged liver, an enlarged spleen, and what could be fluid(potentially blood) in her lungs. We were sent to VCA Advanced Clinic for specialized hospitalization and internal medicine care.

June 20th: We got the call and the official diagnosis: Pepper has Lymphoma. What type and how severe is still unknown until we talk to the Oncologist and get a prognosis. It is important to understand that this was unavoidable; her age is what makes it so heartbreaking. While most lymphomas are easily treatable, they are very rarely "cured". Treatment varies, but based on her condition and the vet's advice, we are anticipating chemotherapy. You can read more about canine Lymphoma in the above, underlined link.

Sam and I are asking for your help in covering what the vet estimates are her chemo costs. They will cost between $6,000 and $8,000 for treatment. The remaining $2,000 of our goal is to alleviate the previous $3,000 we have put on credit cards

We have already taken out money from savings and gotten a new line of credit. I have already applied for second jobs. We are approximately $7,000 thousand out of pocket already. Our primary goal is to lessen her pain and improve her quality of life, but she is only 4 years old. She turns 5 in October. We love her more than life itself – she is truly a cherished member of our little family. We cannot imagine this life without our goofy, sweet, frisbee-obsessed girlie; to have that time and her quality of life suddenly threatened is so scary.

Please share this with your family, friends, and work circles. Share it with your neighbors. If you know us at all, have met Pepper, or have seen her goofy bat ears on your socials, please share this.

We appreciate whatever contribution you're willing to make, but more importantly, we value your love and support for our sweet baby. She definitely needs it.