When it rain it pours. Over the weekend , MorningStar, our little red 9 month old got into something she should not have when I turned my back for a few seconds. It was terrifying but she is all healed up and 100%.

Then, a couple of days ago, my #1 beautiful baby girl Aurora started acting strange. Not eating and breathing …’really hard, yet wagging her tail, playing ball and doing all her other normal things. I thought she just had a tummy ache but her breathing worried me so I took her to the vet today and they checked all her vitals. Heart, perfect. Lungs, wheezing but otherwise, perfect, things supposed to be pink, pink. We did an xray and found what looks like a mass. The vet reviewed the X-rays and gave the prognosis: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia, which tends to be a birth defect of the diaphragm and would require surgery as it is considered fatal. He advised we immediately go to the emergency animal hospital for further investigation. $300+

Today we went to the vet hospital.

They performed an ultrasound and more X-rays.

The good news ...It is not a Diaphragmatic hernia.

It is however a build up of fluid in her chest cavity. The vet performed a Thoracentesis and drained the fluid, and said there was quite a bit, but it was clear, not bloody. That’s a small victory. Yet, not a prognosis.

They are running tests on the fluid today, but it is a lengthy process so we most likely won’t have any results until later today or tomorrow.

They also did bloodwork and found a few items that were a bit elevated, but that could be signs of just an infection. Again, prognosis unclear until the removed fluid is investigated more thoroughly. $600+

Bad news: many things can cause fluid in the chest cavity. It could be something simple which would only require this drainage and some antibiotics, or it could be as bad as a tear, a broken blood vessel or worse, cancer.

So what does this mean?

It means, for now, they have done what they can to make Aurora comfortable by removing the abundance of fluid and have sent us home with antibiotics for rest and recovery and will call us as soon as they have further information.

As it stands, we still don’t have a cause or a reason, but they were at least able to count a few things out.

Surgery is still not off the table but it won’t be happening today.

I know we are all struggling. I know it’s “only a dog”, but she is my entire world other than Donovan. She saved me so many times in these last four years. I can’t even breathe thinking she might not make it.

From the bottom of mine, Donovan’s, Star’s, Astro’s and especially Aurora’s heart … Thank you ❤️

update as of Nov 12th

Heard back from the vet.

Results from the pathologist came back inconclusive..

Aurora requires more tests. Another ultrasound and more X-rays and it’s all being sent to another specialist. They are stumped.

Four possible finds:

1. Heart disease (if she were a cat, this would be at the top of their list. She is not, and she is young, and her heart is perfect, so it’s not this)

2. Cancer (if she were old, and a cat, this would be at the top of their list. She is young, and not a cat so, they don’t think it’s this)

3. A Lung lobe torsion- can be fatal without surgical intervention. Tests to determine

4. Diaphragmatic hernia- original diagnosis but it didn’t show as this in original X-rays or ultrasound. The fluid that was taken out of her chest however, could have been hiding this, hence… more tests. can be fatal without surgical intervention. Tests to determine.

Please Please Please keep those donations coming. Please keep sharing.

Without them, we can’t help her.

I have never been more heartbroken or scared. I can’t believe this is happening to my sweet girl.

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Aurora Update - Aug 14

We went back to the vet. Listened to her heart. Her heart sounds good and healthy.

Listened to her lungs. Her lungs aren’t making any concerning noises.

Checked her gums, pinkish white (a little dehydrated).

Checked her temperature. Normal.

Checked her weight…. Went from 5.1 to 4.9 (she’s not eating, makes sense… plus when they weighed her the first time; she had at least 800ml of fluid in her chest).

Did another blood test.

Nothing too concerning. Some of the things that were high came down, some stayed the same.

We decided to do a quick ultrasound instead of the more invasive ultrasound and xray that would require sedation. $300+

There is still about 15mls of fluid in her chest, but it’s what was left behind from the first extraction. They couldn’t get it all because it was to close to vital organs. There doesnt seem to be more but there is inflammation around the lungs, most likely from whatever is causing the fluid build up.

What is causing the fluid build up…. Inconclusive. They don’t think it’s heart disease. They also don’t think it’s cancer although they are not counting that out.

Because she is not eating (most likely due to tummy upset from the antibiotics and stress, they gave her a shot of anti nausea medication and an appetite enhancer.

Moving forward, we are going to monitor her and go back for a checkup next week to see if the fluid stays gone and check her vitals. $300

If at that time they find something concerning, we will move forward with the imaging and specialist. $600+

If they do have to send to a specialist, and they STILL can't find what's wrong, she would be referred for all sorts of crazy shit that I could never afford and we may have to say goodbye to our beautiful little girl.

No matter what we do, we may never find the answer

For those asking, they do not think that whatever this is has anything to do with post pregnancy or the possibility that she was also electrocuted with Star. They checked her kidney and liver enzymes and she is not anemic nor do they think it’s pancreatic cancer (which was found 4 generations back on her fathers side)and her

Blood pressure was fine. They still don’t think it’s a diaphragmatic hernia from the ultrasounds that they have done.

Everyone is truly stumped.

We still very much need your help!

So far, we’ve paid approx $1500, with more tests to come.

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Aurora update, Aug 20th

Aurora update-

Auroras appetite has not improved much since being done with the antibiotics. She is interested in food and seems hungry but no matter what I put in front of her (and yes, I have tried everything), she has been been sniffing it, burping, and turning her nose up to most of it.

Her breathing is a bit better but definitely not normal. She isn’t sucking in her tummy as much but it’s definitely fast and every breath she takes, her whole body quakes.

Last night I was able to get her to eat. I was so excited I almost started crying.

Around 1:00am, everything she ate earlier came up and out, all over the place.

I spoke to the animal hospital vet, Dr Robyn and she wants to me give her the anti nausea medication again and see if it helps. She brought up wanting to proceed with the more extensive ultrasound and X-rays, and sending them to the radiologist, that will be another $600+ that I simply don’t have. We have no answers. Everyone is stumped. 5 vets and a pathologist cannot figure out what is wrong with my once very healthy 4 year old girl. WTF is happening!

Not going to lie folks…. I fear the worst.

I have to continue to beg and pled with you all and I am so sorry to have to do that, but if you can share her Go Fund Me we would greatly appreciate it. I simply can’t do this without your help.

Aug 25

Aurora had a rough night last night. She was very restless and could not find comfort no matter how hard either one of us tried. She was not interested in food this morning but I was able to get some chicken and rice into for dinner.

As of 11:56pm, she is finally resting, but I can feel every breath she takes as it seems to quake through her entire body. Wednesday can’t get here fast enough. Thank you so much for the donations and support and for loving this silly, beautiful little creature as much as I do. Please share this go fund me with the animal lovers in your life. Aurora and I are depending on these donations so that we can hopefully do the right test that will finally tell us some answers.

Next bet Appt is set for Wednesday, Nov 27 at the Animal Care Center of Strathmore with Dr. Robyn. Invasive ultrasounds and X-rays, along with bloodwork to be performed and sent to the radiologist, along with another thoracentesis as I am pretty positive her chest has filled back up with fluid.

Update November 27

Hoping we get some much needed answers after today’s tests on Aurora.

Update:

We made it home.

That drive sucks big time.

Dr. Robyn examined Aurora. Heart sounds fine but is beating fast, “most likely from the stress of being there and the situation, but is otherwise strong”. Lungs sounded fine but hard to tell because it’s very apparent more fluid has built up in her chest, making it hard to really hear if there is a gurgle or something more. Temperature normal. Gums are a little pale but that’s to be expected since her appetite has been so bad.

They took her back and ran her tests.

They extracted another 400+mls of clearish fluid from her chest. Not what we wanted at all. That means that whatever this is, it’s not going away. But, this time, they got it all out (last time they couldn’t get it all because it was too close to her vital organs).

Because they were able to get all the fluid out this time, they were able to get more images…. better imagines then last time. They literally took images of her entire body along with more x-rays and more blood work. Her bloodwork wasn’t showing anything extrodonary. Some stuff went down a little due to her lack of eating, some stuff went up due to all the stress being caused to her body from wherever is causing this.

Everything has been sent off to the radiologist now. Please keep your fingers crossed, your worry stones handy and your prayers coming. We need a win. We really really need a win.

For those asking, today’s visit was $730.43.

The go fund me has been able to help pay for visits prior to today. For that, we are truly so grateful and unbelievably thankful.

November 28 UPDATE

I heard back from Dr. Robyn this evening regarding the tests conducted yesterday.

Drumroll, please… We still don’t know the cause of Aurora’s pleural effusion, but we’ve been able to rule out a few major concerns, thanks to the radiologist’s findings.

Here’s what it’s not:

• A diaphragmatic hernia

• A lung lobe torsion

• Anything related to Astro

• A tumor

• Cancer

These five possibilities would have required surgery to address, but thankfully, they’re now off the table (at least for the time being).

Her bloodwork has also ruled out blood-borne cancer, though it’s still a possibility we’re shelving for now.

What we do know is that Aurora’s protein levels are off, so she’ll need to follow a low-protein diet. Additionally, there’s inflammation around her heart. However, her heart itself sounds perfect—strong with no murmurs. Still, something is causing the fluid to accumulate and return.

To address this, Aurora will begin heart medication tonight. I couldn’t help but laugh when Dr. Robyn told me the name of it—I’m on the same medication! Like mother, like daughter: two single moms with rowdy only-child sons, now sharing heart meds. The hope is that this medication, which also acts as a diuretic, will help prevent fluid buildup.

Aurora will take the medication for a week, after which we’ll return to Dr. Robyn for another ultrasound. If there’s no fluid, we may have solved the issue. If there’s still fluid… well, I might just lose my mind. The next step would be an echocardiogram, which costs a minimum of $1,200.

For this reason, I’m leaving the GoFundMe open and would deeply appreciate any and all donations as we’ll still need more ultrasounds and blood tests moving forward.

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far, especially during these tough times and right before the holidays. Your support means everything.

Please keep the prayers, chants, and crystals coming.

Update November 30 10:00pm

Aurora is not ok.

The fluid in Aurora’s chest has come back. It is causing her to suffocate.

We were given 3 options.

The first option (the one that could very well tell us what’s wrong) $4,837.14

This includes staying overnight at the hospital, another Thora, an internal medicine specialist, IV, ultrasounds and medication.

The second option (the one we are doing tonight) $979.02 . This includes another ultrasound, a urinalysis, another thora to drain the fluid and medication and if it works, she will live, but be on medication for the rest of her life.

The third option …..the third option is not even an option ….’not yet…. But if option 2 doesn’t work, it might have to be.

Update: 3:42am- We are home now. They pulled another 400mls from the left side of her chest. No protein found in the urine. Prednisone injected. The next 48 hours are critical.

If the prednisone works, we have found the problem. If it does not….. I can’t even think about that.

Obviously there is so much more I could go into detail about but I just …. Can’t. My heart is breaking.

This is truly a nightmare.

Dec 7, 2024

Our Sweet Beautiful girl left us far too soon. She was perfect and loving and saved my life and my heart when I needed her the most. The only thing I could give her back… was peace.

When we arrived at the clinic today, she weighed in at only 4.7 kgs. Dr. Nicole brought in the ultrasound machine and checked her with us in the room and her chest had completely filled up with fluid again and she was in worse shape then her very first visit, confirming that none of the medications were working.

I truly did all that I was capable of doing to try to help our sweet girl and without the help of so many of you, I would not have been able to have even done that. Blood work, pathology, radiology, numerous Thoracentesis procedures, emergency vet visits, medications, special diet….with no prognosis or recovery.

We opted for an autopsy in the hopes that we can finally know the cause of what took our precious girl too soon from us.

Her ashes will be back with us next week along with hopefully an explanation/ prognosis.

I am leaving the Go Fund Me up for a bit longer as I am still trying to pay off all the vet visits (over $3000, including today’s which was over $700).

Thank you everyone for your kind words, love and support. To say that I am heartbroken would truly be an understatement.

She is over the rainbow bridge, barking at whatever she wants, playing with all the balls and feasting on all the poop. She was loved, and I know she knew it.

#MissAuroraBorealisPrincessPooPoofacestinkybottomsassypantmamadog