Support Dobby's Lifesaving Treatments

Hello, dear friends and family. I'm coming to you for help, which is hard to ask for and I feel very humbled doing so and grateful to you for reading this. My dog, Dobby, has a very severe illness that requires a lot of expensive medical attention, and I'm no longer in a position to provide everything she needs.

Dobby is about 2 years old. She's been diagnosed with a rare disease called Canine Megaesophagus that will limit her life to 5-8 years. Here is a link that explains the disease in detail, but I will explain is as simply as I can too.Megaesophagus Basically, Dobby was born with a birth defect of her esophagus. Her esophagus is enlarged in one area, and then below that, it is very narrow. This causes food to get trapped inside the enlarged part, and then it's hard for that food to make its way down the narrow part into her stomach.

Dogs with this illness struggle to maintain proper weight and nutrients. They often regurgitate their food because it gets stuck and then has to come back out through their mouths. The biggest reasons dogs die from this disease is due to 1. aspirate pneumonia, where, during regurgitation, food travels back down the throat and gets into the lungs, causing pneumonia that can be quite severe and requires immediate emergency attention. The specialist I saw assured me this will happen to Dobby at least twice in her life, and it can be deadly. It is definitely deadly if the dog's owner doesn't have the potential thousands of dollars needed at the time for treatment. 2. Starvation

I am doing everything I can to treat Dobby's megaesophagus, such as using a Bailey Chair, feeding her high-protein/fat food, giving her the meds the vets recommend, and keeping an ever-watchful eye on her. When I adopted her, the shelter downplayed her disease greatly, assuring me it was no big deal, that all I had to do was get her a raised food dish in then hold her upright for a couple minutes after she ate, and before long I wouldn't even notice anything was wrong with her. I thought, "Sure, I can handle that," but after about 2 weeks it was blatantly obvious that they'd lied to me and that Dobby's illness was quite severe and would be a lifelong struggle. It was an incredibly difficult choice to keep her - I still wrestle with whether or not that was the right thing to do - but I had a decent amount of savings at the time, I loved her with all my heart, and we'd already bonded deeply, so I kept her.

After the first year of having sweet Dobbs in my life, I've paid about $4,500 in vet bills. I'm disabled and living off Social Security which leaves me with just enough to get by each month. Everyday I'm afraid this is going to be the day Dobby developed aspirate pneumonia and there's nothing I can do for her. It breaks my heart.

That's why, as much as I hate to do so, I'm asking for donations on behalf of Dobby to help pay for her megaesophagus treatments. This includes meds, regular vet visits, and inevitable emergency visits. I understand that times are tough and everything is so expensive, and I certainly don't expect anyone to do anything they can't do. But if you happen to be in a situation where you're willing and able to donate a little something to Dobby's care so she can live the longest and happiest life possible, I would be grateful deep in my heart.

Thank you so much for reading this and for anything you can do. If you know people who might want to help, I'd greatly appreciate you sharing this post. Blessings to you this coming year!

With love and gratitude,

Corry Seibert