Support Gina's Family and Their Beloved Pug

Hi everyone, my name is Gina and I’m making an account on behalf of myself and my family for our wonderful 8-year-old male pug, Dexter.

Two weeks ago, our worlds were flipped upside down. Dexter became ill out of nowhere, and when he was brought to the ER, he was diagnosed with DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis) and Pancreatitis. DKA is life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention, as having high ketones in his system can very quickly lead to death. All the symptoms he was presenting were the end stages of this disease. There was talk of euthanasia if treatment didn’t work, but we thought no way, it’s not his time yet. Knowing he would need insulin 2x a day for the rest of his life was so sad, but we would do anything to make sure he would be okay and we’d have more time with him.

We then got a $14,000 bill that we were being asked to pay upfront, or else our dog wouldn’t make it home alive. We are broke, we work paycheck to paycheck, and barely know how we’re going to afford to eat every day, let alone pay this crazy bill. We asked to take off as many charges as possible, and it still left us at $10,000. We had no choice but to take from savings and ask family for help. As people who always give and give and don’t ask for anything back, it’s so embarrassing to have to do these types of things.

Dexter was admitted for 48 hours. He ended up doing so well they released him in 24 hours, and we brought him home. He still wasn’t doing well when we brought him home, so our primary vet increased his insulin dose. Over the next two days, it seemed like Dexter was back again, acting like his normal self. Tuesday came around, and he declined severely. My father called me at work to tell me I needed to come home because Dexter isn’t doing well. As we were on the phone, Dexter started to have a seizure. They rushed him to our primary vet, and they took his glucose levels, and it was 41. He became hypoglycemic, which is the opposite end of DKA. They gave him Caro syrup to perk him up and then brought him home. As soon as I got home, he started to have another seizure. My brother quickly got maple syrup that was in our cabinet, and I had to pry his mouth open to get it in. We rushed him back to the ER, not even a week later. We got presented with another bill for over $2,000, and he would have to stay for 24 hours.

There were complications getting his BG (Blood Glucose) levels to rise again, but they finally did and he was released.

Dexter is home and doing well and starting to act like himself again. We are so relieved to have our boy back. As a family, we are so emotionally, physically, and financially depleted. Every day, at least 2x to 3x a day, I have to take his blood to check his BG levels. His poor little veins are so sick of the endless pokes. He receives his insulin 2x a day and we are closely monitoring him.

Thank you to everyone who has been checking on him and us to make sure we are doing okay. We appreciate all the help we have been given. We’ll update our story as we go.