Support for Albert & Irma After Iggy's Loss

For those that do not know me, my name is Albert Chacon IV, and I am raising funds with my mother Irma to help cover vet bills left over after the tragic loss of our baby Iggy earlier this February of 2025.

Iggy was always a spunky, bratty, energetic giant in an adorable, permanent puppy package; the epitome of a Napoleon complex with plenty of time for cuddles and licks after hours of play and running the household. Iggy's health took a turn for the worse late December of last year. While on our morning walk, she somehow got into some debris in the grass that would later turn out to be laced with methamphetamine, as we would find out after she started displaying strange behavior and we took her to urgent care. Little did we know, this was just the beginning of every pet parent's most dreaded nightmare as her health started to decline rapidly over the course of a couple of months.

Iggy started losing interest in eating her food as she normally would, resulting in my mother and me going to desperate lengths to figure out how to get her to eat, oftentimes trying to get her to eat dog-safe "human foods" to no avail. While she still remained somewhat active for her 11 going on 12 years (her birthday is on Valentine's Day), she started to slow down and sleep more than usual. We decided to take her to the animal hospital to have her teeth checked, as we thought maybe there was a dental issue preventing her from maintaining a healthy appetite. The vet recommended dental extraction surgery, which was performed in the middle of January with 8 teeth being extracted as a result.

Through the passing of 2 weeks, we never saw an improvement in Iggy's appetite. In fact, she started losing weight drastically, quickly losing the strength in her legs to walk. We took her to the vet again, and at that point, it was discovered in her lab work that she might have hyperthyroidism, although it was never brought to our attention from previous diagnostics performed. We paid for several medications, diagnostic tests, dietary foods, and procedures to help us desperately figure out the proper medical plan to follow to help our baby girl regain her health. It was of no use. Despite several nights of staying up late syringe feeding her and trying to get her to take her medications, her condition worsened, so we took her to urgent care again.

The urgent care vet said she might be gravely ill and proceeded to conduct an emergency ultrasound and X-rays of Iggy's abdominal area. The results delivered the heartbreaking blow: a massive tumor of the liver occupying the majority of the inside of her tiny body. We were given more medicines and supplements to try to circumvent the glaring sickness rapidly taking over our poor little baby's body. It became very evident as the hours passed by that these efforts were in vain as she lost the ability to walk and drink water without assistance while we continued to feed her via syringe as well. At this point, Iggy lost half of her body weight, losing the strength to hold her head up on her own while spontaneously yelping loudly in pain every so often.

We took her to the animal hospital one last time. The vets still didn't have the results of her blood work, and our baby was going in and out of consciousness as time went by. We still didn't want to hear or accept the obvious, and there is never an appropriate time to do so. We were asked if we wanted to help her "cross the rainbow bridge" at this animal hospital. Going against the truth in front of us, we decided to go home and see if she would improve. She never did.

Later on that night, through spells of streaming tears and fighting the difficulty of accepting the agonizing truth of Iggy's health in its grave condition, we decided to take our baby girl to the urgent care facility where we felt could provide a more comfortable atmosphere to help her have a peaceful final sleep. We said our goodbyes as we held tightly onto her until she took her last breath, letting her know how much she was loved, thanking her for the years of unlimited happiness and companionship she had provided us, and how much of our hearts she took with her. It was quite possibly the most painful thing we have ever experienced in our lives, as it is never easy to let go of someone that was not only your best friend, your daughter or granddaughter, but your daily reminder of the pure innocence left in this cruel, cold world. But, we decided it was selfish to continue postponing the inevitable.

We tried everything humanly possible within our very limited resources and meager financial situation to help Iggy's health turn around, but by February 2nd, she was no longer suffering. However, we had exhausted all of our combined credit and funds available to cover the expenses. Thankfully, we were able to cover Iggy's cremation, but now, while we are coping with the weight of our loss, we have no means of covering the expenditures left over by our massive vet bills.

I was injured at work last summer and quit my job because I was left without support from my employer while working in a horrendous work environment on the brink of a complete nervous breakdown. Whilst on work restrictions, I have been unable to find a job with reasonable accommodations to cover these expenses; my unemployment benefits end in March, and my mom counts on her monthly SSI Permanent Disability allowance to help us get by. While we do have some financial plans set in motion for the future, we need help now, as these unplanned expenses spent trying to save our baby Iggy were not foreseen.

We are asking for help to cover the remainder of Iggy's vet bills. We are very aware of how difficult it is to stay afloat financially with the current state of the economy, so we will also be happy if you are only able to share our campaign with your friends and family. Any little bit will help us survive while we keep the spirit and memory of our sweet, rambunctious, little troublemaker Iggy alive in our hearts. We thank you in advance for reading our campaign and for your continued support.