Help for the Corbett pups Moose and Storm

Natalie and Tori are two of the very best people. They are giving, selfless and love each other and their animals so fiercely. For those that know them, the Corbett Zoo is a well known crew, and their two dogs Storm and Moose are central to it.

They’ve been faced with an impossible situation financially, after both dogs accidentally ingested a substance that has had severe kidney damaging effects. They have been in and out of the emergency vet over the past week, at times not knowing if their pups were going to make it. Just yesterday, they were able to bring them home and unfortunately with a checkup today have had to bring them back in for more treatment as their kidney function was again worsening.

Natalie and Tori are not people who ask for help lightly, or without extreme thought behind it - but they are in a position where there truly has become no other option.

If there is even a small amount you can contribute, it would mean the absolute world to them and if that’s not possible, sharing this post or just holding their family close to your hearts would be equally as meaningful.

For all of those with animals, and those who know the deep companionship and unconditional love that you receive from them - you will understand and empathize with the Corbett’s.

Natalie has written a blurb below, sharing more details and information.

Much love and appreciation ❤️

It was a normal Thursday, until it wasn’t. It was a normal Thursday, until we got home. It was a normal Thursday until our world fell apart.

We got home and up he trotted, our baby boy Moose, holding a crushed bottle of Advil so proudly in his mouth. Behind him, Storm sat looking guiltily up at us as she hung her head. Shock, terror.. we stood incapacitated as we felt our hearts turning to dust as they broke and we plummeted into panic.

Rewind a week, and we were on our honeymoon on the West Coast with them, sitting by the ocean, leaping through the waves with them and watching them dig in the sand. Each day was an adventure and they were the happiest we have ever seen them.

Fast forward again. They were immediately rushed to the emergency pet hospital, and after inducing vomiting and not being able to discern how much they’d ingested, we were told their best chance was being hospitalized for 72 hours and put on IV’s, stomach protectants, and other medicines that could help save their lives. Of course, do everything you have to do, a no brainer. But then came the numbers. Numbers that were exponentially more than we had prepared for.

We visited them every day and waited by our phones for any news. Waking hell. On their first day they seemed to be responding well to the treatments, but only their bloodwork will really tell us. Their kidneys values were the important thing. Normal levels in dogs are between 44 and 159, and we got them there soon enough that their levels weren’t too far outside the normal range that first night. Each time we called we could hear them crying and barking in the background. They had to be separated so their IV’s didn’t get ripped out. But that hurt their hearts, and they both needed anxiety medications.

The next day, seeing them come in, so drugged and so not themselves, needing catheters, IV’s in their legs, cones, we fell apart. We would give anything to have it be us instead of them. Moose is only 10 months old, and Storm just had her first birthday. How do you explain to babies why you have to leave them behind? How do you explain it’s to save their lives? How do you explain why every time they leave the room, their moms go one way, and they have to go the other, back to tubes and medicine and cold walls that aren’t home?

We hadn’t heard anything the next morning, and when we went in for our visit, the vet came in to talk to us. Moose’s kidneys were struggling. Since he had been there his levels had more than doubled. He would need to stay on the IV and in the hospital for longer, it was his only chance. The odds his kidney values would come down weren’t good. But we were hopeful that they would plateau, and we could help him find a new normal, even if it meant a shorter life, much shorter than he deserves.

3 more days is recommended. More numbers to pay. We would find a way. Storm’s kidney values had stayed consistent and she was expected to be taken off the IV that night. But he needed her, she couldn’t come home. He needed her emotional support, so she would stay with him, thanks to the kindest vet.

Praying, wishing, hoping for something to change, we came the following morning for our visit. The vet came in and we held our breath. Moose’s number had come down by a single point. We were just so relieved it hadn’t gone up further and were feeling as if we could breathe a little when she spoke again and said that Storm’s kidney values had gone up. For the first time since she had been there, they had really gone up. We felt like we might throw up, the tears streamed without showing signs of slowing. She needed 2 more days. 2 more days of fluids, medicine, fear, and anxiety. And more numbers to pay. She has to make it through this. She is just a baby. We will find a way.

When we got there the next morning, we were trying to hold it together, trying to smile and trying to manifest the hope we needed to have. No news from the vet yet. They bring our babies in for a visit, and all we can think is why is this happening to them, they are so young and have so much time left to live. They lie with us and give us kisses, slowly, their cloudy eyes telling us how much they are hurting. The vet technician comes and goes, taking them with her. More waiting and praying and wishing and hoping. At 6 pm the phone rings, we breathlessly answer and then- a miracle. Moose’s number has dropped. Not just a little bit, it dropped a lot. We can’t believe it. But Storm, hers went up again, a lot. Our hearts, so light a moment before, weighs heavy again. We light candles that night, and squeeze our eyes shut as the tears roll out, and wish with all of our being, both of our little loves will come home to us.

The phone rings. It’s 10am the next day. Both their kidney values have come down into the normal range. BOTH OF THEM. The vet thinks they can be discharged later that day. We feel as though we are dreaming. It’s a miracle, our prayers have been answered, our wishes granted, and our hope rewarded. They were discharged that afternoon (yesterday) and it was one of the happiest days of our lives. They came home to their beds and slept their little hearts out, snoring all afternoon. They had lots of medicines to take, and we still had to monitor them and bring them in for bloodwork the next day to make sure everything was okay. But they were home, we could finally breathe again.

This morning. They got their bloodwork. Both their numbers had shot back up overnight. We aren’t even sure if our hearts have been put back together enough to break again, but we can hear them cracking.

The recommendation, their best chance- hospitalize them and have them back on IV’s, medicine and separation for another 48 hours. That was this morning.