Medical Fund for Kyra and Dakota
Donation protected
This is an appeal to anyone who wants to donate to the costs of medical treatment for my two dogs. Any amount would be appreciated, and any money raised over the needed funds will go to charity.
I've had my pitbull mix Kyra for nearly 6 years now - she started as a foster and I fell for her quickly and adopted her. She is a registered Therapy Dog and has a number of titles. Kyra is a very active girl! I call her my diva, because she demands attention wherever she goes and has never met a person she doesn't like. Unfortunately, for those of you who have known us for a while, her outgoing personality (and her terrier nature) also get her into trouble at times!
On Tuesday night 4/25 Kyra escaped from my fenced-in yard and chased down a porcupine. She returned to the house with more than 50 quills stuck in her mouth, jaws, chest and one of her legs. She required a trip to the emergency vet and sedation to remove the quills. However unfortunately some of the quills were so deep that the vet was forced to leave them in (they would have required major surgery to remove). The vet told me the quills would migrate and eventually either be broken down or leave Kyra's body. She was sent home with multiple medications and undoubtedly did NOT learn her lesson about porcupines. Momma learned a lesson about making sure the fence was secure though!!
Over the next few days Kyra acted perfectly normal. I removed several quills from her face and body as her daily activities pushed them out, and considered the matter closed.
On Sunday early morning 4/30 I woke to Kyra breathing heavily with a wheeze and obviously in distress. After it became apparent that this wasn't a pain issue, we took another trip to the e-vet. Sedation and a thorough oral exam with chest x-rays revealed no apparent quills, but it was obvious Kyra was in some distress. Kyra stayed overnight for monitoring and was scheduled for a CT scan the next day.
On Monday 5/1 Kyra's breathing became extremely distressed. She was sedated and 1.5 L of air was removed from her left chest (she had a pneumothorax). CT scan revealed that she had air space and damage in both of her lungs, but the damage was more severe on the left than the right. However the scan did not show any quills - the vet said that the tissue inflammation and damage was to the extent that it may be obscuring them. Or it may be something else?!
Kyra remained at the vet for monitoring overnight on 5/1 and had an uneventful evening. It is now the morning of 5/2 and the vet has called to say she can come home!! There is no guarantee at the moment that the quills won't cause another pneumothorax or further issues, and Kyra has to be monitored closely and return for a chest x-ray next week.
In addition to the mess that Kyra has gotten herself into, I have Dakota. Dakota is a retired racer (greyhound) that I adopted on 4/17. He was mostly bald with severe dandruff and his ribs, backbone, and tail joints were visible when I picked him up. This is not considered unusual in racing dogs, but for a pet he was at least 10 lbs underweight and the baldness indicated a lack of proper nurishment. He has had continuing severe diarrhea since I adopted him. First I had attributed it to stress and a new environment, but when the diarrhea did not let up I brought him to my vet on 4/21. He ran extensive tests and determined that Dakota had an extremely high load of hookworms, which was causing his diarrhea and also his malnurishment, dehydration, and probably also his poor coat. Dakota was given a dewormer, prescription diet, and multiple medications.
When his diarrhea did not abate, we returned to the vet on 4/28. Dakota was given an additional different dewormer (this is not unusual, as the hookworm medication kills the worms at different times in their cycles, and if you don't kill them all, they will come back) in addition to more medications and more prescription food. He was also given subcutaneous fluids for his dehydration.
At this point (5/2) Dakota's diarrhea has not stopped; however his current coat is obviously much recovered and I have hope that his bald patches will grow back over time. He's gained 4 lbs over the last 2 weeks. Once his GI system begins to calm down and get regular, nutritious food without any worms (!!) he should be a much healthier, happier dog.
Fortunately both Kyra and Dakota get along extremely well and are good company for each other. Despite the stress of the last two weeks I feel very fortunate!
Now comes the unfun part - money. I bougth insurance on Kyra after the last [very expensive and nearly fatal] incident she had (that's a story for another time), however it has a $500 deductible and a $2500 max, and only pays for part of most services - that's all I can afford. Dakota has insurance on him now also, however the worms are considered a pre-existing condition, and the insurance does not cover deworming anyway! The rescue that I adopted him from has promised to pay Dakota's initial vet bill, and they've had a copy of the bill for some time now, but I have not received any money from them yet.
The current breakdown of costs right now:
Kyra:
$500 e-vet bill for quill removal
$2491 for e-vet, 2 nights of monitoring, x-rays, and CT scan from 4/30-5/2
Dakota:
$500 vet bill for tests, initial deworming, medication and prescription food
$175 vet bill for deworming #2, medication, prescription food, and subcutaneous fluids
Both dogs will need additional vet care in the coming weeks:
Kyra will need at least one more round of chest x-rays if nothing else happens; if she gets another pneumothorax then the vet will likely recommend a chest tube and exploratory surgery to remove whatever is causing the problem.
Dakota will probably need another round of deworming and meds, given that his diarrhea has not resolved itself yet. He may need additional subcutaneous fluids if it appears that he can't keep up with his hydration with drinking.
Both dogs will need follow up tests to make sure that neither of them have worms (yes they are transmissible; unfortunately Kyra and Dakota were in close contact for a week before we knew what the issue was. Hopefully she does not have worms in addition to all of this!!).
I have emptied my savings account and taken out the equivalent of a Care Credit card for Kyra's care. These expenses will easily be over $2000 even with insurance coverage. My main concern is that Kyra will need additional emergency surgery and even the Care Credit card will be maxed out and I will be unable to afford further treatment.
Please, anything you can donate would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to provide copies of the medical bills if you want them. I will be giving any excess donations once Kyra and Dakota's bills are paid to charity. Right now I am just hoping for two happy and healthy dogs!
Thank you in advance for anything you can do. I will keep everyone updated.
I've had my pitbull mix Kyra for nearly 6 years now - she started as a foster and I fell for her quickly and adopted her. She is a registered Therapy Dog and has a number of titles. Kyra is a very active girl! I call her my diva, because she demands attention wherever she goes and has never met a person she doesn't like. Unfortunately, for those of you who have known us for a while, her outgoing personality (and her terrier nature) also get her into trouble at times!
On Tuesday night 4/25 Kyra escaped from my fenced-in yard and chased down a porcupine. She returned to the house with more than 50 quills stuck in her mouth, jaws, chest and one of her legs. She required a trip to the emergency vet and sedation to remove the quills. However unfortunately some of the quills were so deep that the vet was forced to leave them in (they would have required major surgery to remove). The vet told me the quills would migrate and eventually either be broken down or leave Kyra's body. She was sent home with multiple medications and undoubtedly did NOT learn her lesson about porcupines. Momma learned a lesson about making sure the fence was secure though!!
Over the next few days Kyra acted perfectly normal. I removed several quills from her face and body as her daily activities pushed them out, and considered the matter closed.
On Sunday early morning 4/30 I woke to Kyra breathing heavily with a wheeze and obviously in distress. After it became apparent that this wasn't a pain issue, we took another trip to the e-vet. Sedation and a thorough oral exam with chest x-rays revealed no apparent quills, but it was obvious Kyra was in some distress. Kyra stayed overnight for monitoring and was scheduled for a CT scan the next day.
On Monday 5/1 Kyra's breathing became extremely distressed. She was sedated and 1.5 L of air was removed from her left chest (she had a pneumothorax). CT scan revealed that she had air space and damage in both of her lungs, but the damage was more severe on the left than the right. However the scan did not show any quills - the vet said that the tissue inflammation and damage was to the extent that it may be obscuring them. Or it may be something else?!
Kyra remained at the vet for monitoring overnight on 5/1 and had an uneventful evening. It is now the morning of 5/2 and the vet has called to say she can come home!! There is no guarantee at the moment that the quills won't cause another pneumothorax or further issues, and Kyra has to be monitored closely and return for a chest x-ray next week.
In addition to the mess that Kyra has gotten herself into, I have Dakota. Dakota is a retired racer (greyhound) that I adopted on 4/17. He was mostly bald with severe dandruff and his ribs, backbone, and tail joints were visible when I picked him up. This is not considered unusual in racing dogs, but for a pet he was at least 10 lbs underweight and the baldness indicated a lack of proper nurishment. He has had continuing severe diarrhea since I adopted him. First I had attributed it to stress and a new environment, but when the diarrhea did not let up I brought him to my vet on 4/21. He ran extensive tests and determined that Dakota had an extremely high load of hookworms, which was causing his diarrhea and also his malnurishment, dehydration, and probably also his poor coat. Dakota was given a dewormer, prescription diet, and multiple medications.
When his diarrhea did not abate, we returned to the vet on 4/28. Dakota was given an additional different dewormer (this is not unusual, as the hookworm medication kills the worms at different times in their cycles, and if you don't kill them all, they will come back) in addition to more medications and more prescription food. He was also given subcutaneous fluids for his dehydration.
At this point (5/2) Dakota's diarrhea has not stopped; however his current coat is obviously much recovered and I have hope that his bald patches will grow back over time. He's gained 4 lbs over the last 2 weeks. Once his GI system begins to calm down and get regular, nutritious food without any worms (!!) he should be a much healthier, happier dog.
Fortunately both Kyra and Dakota get along extremely well and are good company for each other. Despite the stress of the last two weeks I feel very fortunate!
Now comes the unfun part - money. I bougth insurance on Kyra after the last [very expensive and nearly fatal] incident she had (that's a story for another time), however it has a $500 deductible and a $2500 max, and only pays for part of most services - that's all I can afford. Dakota has insurance on him now also, however the worms are considered a pre-existing condition, and the insurance does not cover deworming anyway! The rescue that I adopted him from has promised to pay Dakota's initial vet bill, and they've had a copy of the bill for some time now, but I have not received any money from them yet.
The current breakdown of costs right now:
Kyra:
$500 e-vet bill for quill removal
$2491 for e-vet, 2 nights of monitoring, x-rays, and CT scan from 4/30-5/2
Dakota:
$500 vet bill for tests, initial deworming, medication and prescription food
$175 vet bill for deworming #2, medication, prescription food, and subcutaneous fluids
Both dogs will need additional vet care in the coming weeks:
Kyra will need at least one more round of chest x-rays if nothing else happens; if she gets another pneumothorax then the vet will likely recommend a chest tube and exploratory surgery to remove whatever is causing the problem.
Dakota will probably need another round of deworming and meds, given that his diarrhea has not resolved itself yet. He may need additional subcutaneous fluids if it appears that he can't keep up with his hydration with drinking.
Both dogs will need follow up tests to make sure that neither of them have worms (yes they are transmissible; unfortunately Kyra and Dakota were in close contact for a week before we knew what the issue was. Hopefully she does not have worms in addition to all of this!!).
I have emptied my savings account and taken out the equivalent of a Care Credit card for Kyra's care. These expenses will easily be over $2000 even with insurance coverage. My main concern is that Kyra will need additional emergency surgery and even the Care Credit card will be maxed out and I will be unable to afford further treatment.
Please, anything you can donate would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to provide copies of the medical bills if you want them. I will be giving any excess donations once Kyra and Dakota's bills are paid to charity. Right now I am just hoping for two happy and healthy dogs!
Thank you in advance for anything you can do. I will keep everyone updated.
Organizer
Sarah Juhlin
Organizer
Farmington, NH
