u/fairlyfancy

I’m sorry for the delay in posting an update. I’ve been very sick these past 2 weeks. My blood pressure has been extraordinarily higher than normal, and I ended up in the hospital last week. Thankfully, my bloodwork came back clear, as did my CT. Unfortunately, I did find out that I have mono. So, we’re just battling the next hurdle, but that’s life. 🩵

Gizmo, however, is doing AMAZING and has taken his new role of taking care of his mommy very seriously. He cuddles and kisses me all day long. I tell him at least 3 times a day how thankful I am that he lived and that he gets to be here with me. After everything we went through with him, I don’t think I’ll ever stop being grateful for that.
Other than that, there’s really nothing terribly interesting to report, which is exactly what we want! It’s hard to believe his surgery was a month ago. We are about 3 weeks away from his post-op bile acid test. He’s eating well, and we’ve had no more random pacing or vomiting. He genuinely seems to be feeling so much better.

We also decided to put our girl pup, Luna, on the same diet to eliminate any potential issues with them getting into each other’s food. It’s definitely more expensive, but completely worth it to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Thank you all for continuing to think of Gizmo and our family, for checking in on him, and for caring about our little guy. We are still so incredibly thankful that he’s here. 🩵

Gizmo is continuing to thrive and heal everyday. We got the go ahead to stop his pain meds (Gabapentin and Torbugesic) effective immediately. We also do not have to refill his Metronidazole. That just leaves the Kepra and Lactulose which he could be on for several more months or forever. Lactulose is at least a year out regardless. We see the surgeon on Tuesday (sadly we had to reschedule his check up this week due to scheduling) and then at 6 weeks he will do a bile acid test with our vet. 🩵🐶

I am amazed by him everyday and how far he has come.

Gizmo is thriving since surgery. He is a little over a week post-op and we see his surgeon on Tuesday. But he’s been playing and just living his best life since then. His scar is looking amazing too!! Our female healed so poorly after being spayed, I really expected it to be awful. But he is killin’ it. Thank you all for helping us get him here.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Sunday. Today was quiet and exactly what I needed. Honestly, I think it was what we all needed.

My husband was off today, so he took my mom and the boys to brunch and then they ran a few errands while I stayed home. I used the quiet time to prep for the week: veggies, fruit, cubed cheese and protein balls. Nothing glamorous, but there is something very satisfying about opening the fridge on Monday and realizing you already did the work.

Once everyone got home, they began their approximately 90-hour marathon of AEW wrestling. I may be exaggerating, but only slightly. 😂

Gizmo and Luna also played together today for the first time in almost a week, which was really nice to see. They’ve both switched to an l/d diet and are eating the Hill’s dry food now. I have the wet food as a backup, and

I’ll give Luna some additional fat and protein here and there as needed. Knowing that she could potentially develop a shunt later in life has made me a little more cautious about what we feed her too. And candidly, we were throwing away so much wet food because these two have absolutely no interest in eating on anyone’s schedule but their own.

So, nothing particularly exciting to report over here today, and I’m very grateful for that.

Everyone is healing nicely. Everyone is doing well. And today we just got to enjoy life for a little while.

After the last few weeks, a quiet Sunday feels pretty wonderful.

Fun fact: when we got Gizmo, we actually named him Cosmo. About an hour after having him, before we had even made it home, we realized Cosmo was absolutely not his name. Gizmo just fit him. My best friend gave me some grief because apparently everyone who has a parti Yorkie names their dog Gizmo, but we knew it was right. 😂

Now, my husband and children are very much nerds in their own right, in the best way possible. So Gizmo’s real name is Guillermo Lucian. I’ll leave out his last name. If you’ve seen the show, you understand the reference. I’d love to tell you the name of the show, but I can’t remember it. I only play a nerd on TV. Or, more accurately, in my own home. 😂

At 11 months old, Gizmo jumped onto my office chair, then onto my desk and drank my coffee. We ended up in the hospital for about seven hours on Christmas Eve Eve because he started having seizures and couldn’t see. We genuinely thought we were going to lose him. But this little boy is nothing if not resilient. All my mugs now have lids.

Then in July, I was in a meeting with my coworkers when I got a text from my neighbor asking, “Is this your dog?” I hadn’t even swiped to look at the picture yet and was thinking, No, my dogs are upstairs.

Except… it was, in fact, my dog. 🤦‍♀️ I abruptly ended the meeting and went on a search. A nice family had found him, given him a bath, and prayed for him. They’d just been to temple to honor their deceased son and said finding him and caring for him when they got home was a sign from God. 😭 He was only gone about 40 min at this point. I still think about all the possibilities that could have happened to him, like if he’d gone the opposite direction he would’ve been lost in the woods.

Apparently, Gizmo had escaped through the garage when my husband left for work and decided to go explore the neighborhood. So now we have gates everywhere because apparently we live with a three-pound fugitive.

And just a few short weeks later, we discovered he had an obstructed bladder, which ultimately led us down the road to discovering his liver shunt and to his surgery on Tuesday.

One thing we’re learning about Gizmo is that he likes to explore all facets of life and deal with the consequences later. If he were a human, he would most definitely be climbing Mount Everest, jumping out of airplanes and generally making choices that would cause his mother to need medication. 😂

Posting a few pictures from yesterday and today because Gizmo is doing very well. Mommy, however, still doesn’t know how to accept that he’s okay and apparently my name is now “call the doctor.” 😂 I’m trying very hard to stay calm, let him heal and remind myself that his little body has been through A LOT.

I have also been insisting that we spoon-feed him because he won’t eat out of his bowl and obviously I’ve decided the alternative is that he will immediately starve to death.

So yes, he’s a little rotten.

But after everything this tiny, ridiculous, adventurous little dog has put us through, I think he’s earned it. 🩵

I had intended to back off from posting here because I’ve taken up so much space sharing Gizmo’s story and trying to get him through surgery. So, I was honestly blown away when dozens of you asked me to keep posting updates. It means more to me than I can explain, and knowing so many people care about him truly makes me so so happy.

But I also need to be honest. Posting throughout this experience has taken a toll on my mental health. I stopped sharing in most other groups almost entirely because of some of the nasty comments I received. In others, my posts were removed because I didn’t have enough Reddit karma, which I apparently don’t have and still don’t fully understand. I’ve also deleted some of my posts in other groups because I didn’t want to deal with them. That’s just the truth. There is a reason I’m not very good at social media and would never make it as an influencer. I genuinely care what people think, even when I wish I didn’t.

This morning, I woke up to messages asking me to provide proof that Gizmo actually had surgery. Aside from the medical paperwork I’ve shared, photos of his surgical incisions, videos of him experiencing neurological symptoms and the direct contact information I previously provided for the hospital, I’m honestly not sure what else I could have done. I suppose I could interview his surgeon, but I’m pretty sure he has more important things to do.

It is also true that I have blocked a handful of users. Based on the way they spoke to me, I decided it was best for my mental health to remove their access to me. Their comments weren’t helping Giz or our cause, and continuing to engage with them wasn’t healthy or productive.

I am not asking for any more donations. I only needed to get Gizmo to surgery, and because of all of you, we did that. I completely understand that it can be difficult to trust people on the internet, but I have been as transparent as I possibly can throughout this entire experience. My husband and I both make a good living. I run a learning and development department for a small fintech company and he is in retail management. We are not ones to just ask for handouts. It was very important to us prior to ever having pets that we could care for them. We’d seen first hand from family members how animals can suffer due to financial restriction, which is why we waited until we were secure and had an emergency fund in place. We just did not ever anticipate this.

I’m attaching his receipt, photos of his incisions, his medications and the email I sent this morning requesting his refills. I hate that I feel the need to prove any of this, but I also never want the people who trusted and supported us to question whether their kindness went exactly where I said it would. I have marked out Gizmo’s penis and my personal details. I hope that’s ok.

To those who have supported us, checked on Gizmo and asked me to continue sharing his progress, thank you. I will keep updating because I know your concern for him is genuine. I may just need to do it a little less frequently and protect my own peace along the way. 🩵

If you’re looking for somewhere to donate, please consider supporting the Shamrock Foundation or another family here that is still trying to reach its goal. The Shamrock Foundation can accept donations through Venmo, or you can call Michelle directly at (502) 245-6803.

The kindness you’ve shown our family has also inspired me to find a way to give back. I have orientation with the Animal Care Society in October, which gives me time to get Gizmo healed and life settled before I begin volunteering. I may not be in a position to give financially right now, but I can give my time. I’m incredibly grateful that all of you helped open this part of my heart and encouraged me to use it to help other animals and families in our community.

I am truly so sorry if I sound frustrated, I am. But please know it does not take away the gratitude I have now that o have my baby home and he is healing.

Gizmo had a good night. We did get him a surgical cover and an inflatable cone just to be safe. I think blue might be his color.

Now that Gizmo is home, I will probably back off on posting as frequently. I don't want to bombard this group constantly.

Gizmo is doing good. He wants to be normal so badly but he’s also in a lot of pain. So happy it’s almost bedtime though. He should sleep well once he’s medicated. He has a long incision down his abdomen and his weenie. I’m worried it is just gonna fall off lol Husband is home tomorrow so I’ll have a little more help. Which is good since I’m sick.

I cannot believe there are over 200 of you who have been interested in how he is. I know money played a part in his recovery, but we are a praying/good vibes family so we know it took all kinds of things to get here and energy is a big part of it. 🖤

Today my beautiful girl turns 7! She is absolutely one of my favorite people in the whole world. She came into our lives when I needed her the most. She loves to cuddle, fight with her baby brother, bark at the Netflix logo (and rain), help me clean when I drop cut veggies in the floor. I love her so so much. Happy birthday, Luna! 🖤

Gizmo is doing great!!! 🩵 They told us all kinds of scary things this morning about the different types of congenital liver shunts and his risk of not surviving surgery (every time we go there they tell us more and more things they didn't mention previously). Thankfully, his shunt was exactly what we originally expected (which is the extrahepatic shunt). It was located outside of his liver, and they placed a 5 mm ring around it that will gradually close it off. They also successfully removed two sizable bladder stones, which were sent to a lab to confirm whether they were caused by the ammonia buildup from his liver shunt.

As long as he continues doing well overnight, we can pick him up tomorrow morning! He’ll have repeat bile acids testing in 3 to 6 months and again around the one-year mark. If everything looks good then, he’ll officially be “in the clear.” We’ll also continue giving him medication at home for anywhere from a few months to a year. We are so incredibly relieved and grateful that our tiny boy made it through surgery. Thank you all so much for loving him, supporting us and helping us get him here. 🩵

Today is the final day I can raise money toward Gizmo’s surgery on Tuesday, so I’m asking for one final push for our little guy. 🩵

I know GoFundMe currently shows that we’ve reached our goal, but unfortunately, we are still nearly $3,000 short of what we need for his surgery.

An incredibly generous donation came through, but GoFundMe has placed those funds under a risk review while they investigate the donation for possible fraud. Until that review is completed, we don’t have access to that money. So while on paper it looks like we made it, the amount actually available to us is still about $3,000 short. (Previously shared proof on another post)

I want to be very clear that I am so incredibly grateful. I never want continuing to ask for help to make it seem otherwise. The fact that so many people have donated, shared Gizmo’s story, checked on him and rooted for our family has touched us more than I could ever adequately put into words. We will never forget the kindness people have shown us through this.

It has never been our intention to raise more than what Gizmo needs. I truly believed we had made it when that donation came through. But with his surgery now just two days away and those funds still being held, I’m scared to stop fundraising when we haven’t actually secured what we need.

So I’m asking one more time: please help us close this final $3,000 gap. Any amount helps. Even $5 or $10 gets us closer. If you can’t donate, sharing his story today could help it reach someone who can.

Gizmo’s surgery is Tuesday morning, and he’ll remain hospitalized for at least 24 hours afterward. I’m already a nervous wreck thinking about my tiny 3-pound boy undergoing such a major operation, but I’m also so ready to get him through this and finally put these terrifying few weeks behind us.

We have fought so hard to get him to this point. We just need a little more help getting him across the finish line. His life truly depends on this surgery. 🩵

If you’re able to help us with this final push, Gizmo’s GoFundMe is linked below.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for getting us this far. Please help us bring our boy home. 🩵

🔗 Donate Here: https://gofund.me/98ed3240d

I wanted to clarify where we currently stand because I know the amount shown as “raised” makes it look like we should have reached what we need for Gizmo’s surgery on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, a significant portion of the money that has been donated is currently being held in risk/review while the transactions are researched (including image from chat support for proof). While those donations are reflected in the total raised, they are not currently available to us to withdraw or use toward his surgery.

With Tuesday getting so close, we simply can’t count on those funds being released in time. That’s why we are continuing to raise money, even though the number you see may make it look like we’ve already gotten there. Our priority right now is making absolutely sure that when we walk into the hospital Tuesday morning, we have access to enough money to pay for Gizmo’s procedure.

I also want to be completely transparent about what happens if the funds being held are released and we ultimately end up raising more than Gizmo’s final medical costs. Any money raised beyond what is needed for his care will be donated to the Shamrock Pet Foundation. Shamrock is a Louisville-area nonprofit dedicated to helping animals in need through rescue, veterinary care, adoption and support for local animal welfare efforts. We would love nothing more than to be able to pay forward even a small piece of the incredible kindness that has been shown to our little guy.

We aren’t trying to raise more than Gizmo needs. We’re trying to make sure that money being temporarily held doesn’t become the reason we can’t move forward with the surgery we’ve fought so hard to get him to.

We are so incredibly close. If you’re able to donate, thank you. If you’ve already donated, thank you. And if donating isn’t possible, sharing his story continues to help us more than you know.

Tuesday is almost here. We just need to make sure Gizmo gets there. 🩵

🔗 GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/8306d31e9

We’re officially in the home stretch, and I’m starting to get very nervous that we won’t be able to have Gizmo’s surgery as scheduled on Tuesday.

We still need to raise $3,000 to move forward, and realistically, today is the day we need to make the biggest dent in that.

There are only four days until surgery, but we’re heading into a weekend, and GoFundMe donations still have to transfer into our bank account before we can actually use them toward his care. We can’t wait until Monday and hope everything clears in time. We need help now.

For anyone new to Gizmo’s story, the TL;DR:

Gizmo is our 19-month-old, 3-pound Yorkie. A few weeks ago, our vet sent us directly to the emergency hospital after a bladder stone completely blocked his ability to urinate. He spent five days in the ICU, and we initially planned to have the stone removed by his regular vet to keep costs down.

Then testing revealed a liver shunt.

That changed everything. He now needs specialty surgery to correct the shunt and address the bladder stone. While waiting for surgery, he became sick again and had to be hospitalized a second time after the shunt caused neurological symptoms from toxins building up in his bloodstream. Since then, we’ve been managing him at home with medication, a prescription diet and very close monitoring while trying to get him safely to surgery.
We have put everything we can into getting him here.

After two hospitalizations, testing, medications and everything else his care has required, we are $3,000 away from being able to continue with his surgery Tuesday.

If you’ve considered donating but haven’t yet, today would be an incredible day to do it. Even $5, $10 or $20 adds up when enough people come together. And if donating isn’t possible, please share this post or his GoFundMe. We desperately need more eyes on his story this weekend.

Today we took both of the babies for a walk in their stroller and got some much-needed fresh air. 🩵 For a little while, we got to just enjoy them and have a bit of normalcy after weeks of hospitals, medications, worry and sleepless nights.

I want so badly to be able to look back at that walk someday and remember it as one of the last things we did before Gizmo finally got the surgery he needed.

$3,000 left. Surgery Tuesday. Today matters.

Please help us get him there.

https://gofund.me/1aaa1f98e

We’re officially in the home stretch, and I’m starting to get very nervous that we won’t be able to have Gizmo’s surgery as scheduled on Tuesday.

We still need to raise $3,000 to move forward, and realistically, today is the day we need to make the biggest dent in that.

There are only four days until surgery, but we’re heading into a weekend, and GoFundMe donations still have to transfer into our bank account before we can actually use them toward his care. We can’t wait until Monday and hope everything clears in time. We need help now.

For anyone new to Gizmo’s story, the TL;DR:

Gizmo is our 19-month-old, 3-pound Yorkie. A few weeks ago, our vet sent us directly to the emergency hospital after a bladder stone completely blocked his ability to urinate. He spent five days in the ICU, and we initially planned to have the stone removed by his regular vet to keep costs down.

Then testing revealed a liver shunt.

That changed everything. He now needs specialty surgery to correct the shunt and address the bladder stone. While waiting for surgery, he became sick again and had to be hospitalized a second time after the shunt caused neurological symptoms from toxins building up in his bloodstream. Since then, we’ve been managing him at home with medication, a prescription diet and very close monitoring while trying to get him safely to surgery.
We have put everything we can into getting him here.

After two hospitalizations, testing, medications and everything else his care has required, we are $3,000 away from being able to continue with his surgery Tuesday.

If you’ve considered donating but haven’t yet, today would be an incredible day to do it. Even $5, $10 or $20 adds up when enough people come together. And if donating isn’t possible, please share this post or his GoFundMe. We desperately need more eyes on his story this weekend.

Today we took both of the babies for a walk in their stroller and got some much-needed fresh air. 🩵 For a little while, we got to just enjoy them and have a bit of normalcy after weeks of hospitals, medications, worry and sleepless nights.

I want so badly to be able to look back at that walk someday and remember it as one of the last things we did before Gizmo finally got the surgery he needed.

$3,000 left. Surgery Tuesday. Today matters.

Please help us get him there.

🔗 https://gofund.me/1aaa1f98e

The kindness and generosity you’ve shown our family encouraged me to become more involved in our community. For that, and for every donation, share and kind word we’ve received, I just wanted to say thank you again. Your support has meant more to us than I can adequately express.

We are still working to raise approximately $4,500 to reach our overall $12,000 goal for Gizmo. This will help cover his upcoming surgery on August 25 (just 5 days away), as well as the unexpected 2nd hospitalization, specialty care and other medical expenses that put us further behind than we were before. If you’re able to donate or share his story, we would be incredibly grateful.

🩵https://gofund.me/2e039d732

I don’t have much of an update on Gizmo tonight, which feels like a good thing. 🩵🐶 He’s doing well, resting, taking his medications and just waiting for surgery next week.

I did have to share this sweet picture I took earlier of him napping with his big sis. 🥹 I think Luna knows her little brother needs some extra love right now.

Right now, we still need to raise around $4,500 more to reach our overall goal of $12,000. That goal is helping us cover Gizmo’s upcoming surgery, as well as the unexpected second hospitalization and additional care that unfortunately put us further behind than we were before.

We’ve continued putting everything we can toward his care ourselves, but after two hospitalizations, emergency visits, medications, specialty food, testing and everything required to keep him stable enough to make it to surgery, we still have a pretty big gap to close.

I know I’ve shared his story a lot over the last few weeks, and I cannot begin to explain how grateful I am for everyone who has donated, shared, checked on him or simply kept our little guy in their thoughts. Every bit of support has helped us get him this far.

If you’re able to donate, even a few dollars gets us closer. If you’ve already donated or you’re not in a position to, please consider sharing his GoFundMe again.

🔗 https://gofund.me/46c05d6d7

Sometimes getting his story in front of one new person can make all the difference.

We’re almost to surgery. We just need a little more help getting him there. 🩵🐶

Hey everyone! I just wanted to share a quick update before I head to bed. Gizmo is doing great today. 🩵 We are officially ONE WEEK away from surgery. I’m sorry I didn’t post much more of an update today. I needed a small break, and it’s also my mom’s birthday. 🙃

I did want to share exactly where we are financially going into next week because several people have asked. Gizmo’s surgery is estimated to be $6,000-$8,000. They can’t give us a definitive amount until the surgery is complete because so much depends on what they find and how he does. They’re probably tired of me asking, but his initial hospitalization was only to be $2,500 and we spent nearly $7,000- so it’s hard to keep track and I worry it’ll change. But, I confirmed with them that there shouldn’t be any surprise numbers on the other side

We still have about half of what we have raised so far for him in our pet savings account. The other half went toward his second hospitalization, medications, and special diet- in case anyone was curious where those funds went. Based on what we have available and what we’ve already raised, we still need to raise an additional $4,620 to get him to surgery. That would bring the total GoFundMe campaign goal to $12,000. Please keep in mind that GFM does Smart Goals, so they gradually increase the goal overtime until it gets to your overall goal.

That number is staggering to me. But as you can probably tell by now, we aren’t giving up on him unless we absolutely have to. I will do whatever I can to make sure his life doesn’t come down to finances. 2-3 weeks ago, it absolutely would have had to and that was a type of guilt I couldn’t bear and why the hospital encouraged me to do this.

If we raise more than what Gizmo ultimately needs, we will absolutely donate the remaining funds to The Shamrock Pet Foundation locally. I’ve thought a lot about what we would do if that happened. The reason I would rather donate it to an organization than choose another individual fundraiser is because I don’t consider any of this my money. I don’t want to be the person deciding whose cause is worthy and whose isn’t. I’d rather put it into the hands of an organization that already does that work every day.

What I can promise from future me, though, is that once we rebuild our pet emergency fund, probably with a little more wiggle room than we had before all of this, we will 100% pay it forward in this group. Until we’re able to do that monetarily, I plan to volunteer locally. I want to be one of those people who can do something and will because I now know firsthand what it does for someone. Emotionally for me and medically for Gizmo, the kindness we’ve received has made a very real difference.

None of that is meant to boast. I’m sharing it because I don’t know how else to express my unyielding gratitude for everything people have done for our family.

I also wanted to answer something people have asked in previous posts: What does Gizmo’s life look like after surgery?

Thankfully, it looks very hopeful. 🩵 He is already on a prescription diet designed to help his body manage proteins and toxins appropriately. Combined with correcting the shunt, this should give his body a much better chance of functioning normally and preventing the neurological issues we’ve seen. Because Gizmo is still basically a baby at just 19 months old and his shunt is congenital, his age is on his side. He’s young and incredibly resilient.

And if you’re curious, like I was, about how you would even know your dog had something like this, there are signs. Looking back, I carry some guilt about things I may have missed, but you don’t know what you don’t know.
Lethargy after eating, dizziness, seizures, pacing, confusion and vomiting can all be symptoms. Over the past month or two, Gizmo had started occasionally throwing up his nighttime meal. We thought he was getting into my mom’s garbage because, to be fair, he absolutely was. 😂 We also wondered if he had a food allergy because my sister’s dog can’t tolerate chicken, and we were already planning bloodwork with our vet to look into it. We considered that maybe he was eating too quickly, so we bought him a slow feeder and switched to wet food so he could eat more easily.

We were paying attention. We were trying to figure it out. We just had absolutely no idea those little things were connected to what he is going through now.

So if you have an animal and something suddenly seems abnormal, even if it seems small, get ahead of it when you can. But also remember that you’re human. You’re going to miss things. You’re going to make mistakes. All we can do is love them fiercely, pay attention and do the absolute best we can for them. In that way, I don’t think raising our animals is all that different from raising our humans.

And to the haters, keep hatin’. It boosts my post. 🙃😂

One last thing: I spoke directly with the hospital about people donating toward Gizmo’s surgery through them. If you would feel more comfortable contributing directly to the hospital rather than through GoFundMe, please message me privately. It requires sharing some personal information, which I’m completely comfortable providing one-on-one, but I feel a little weird posting it publicly. I hope you understand.

One week, little man. We just have to get you there. 🩵🐶

Thank you for donating, sharing, commenting, checking on him, defending us, encouraging us and simply caring about this tiny little dog you’ve never met. I don’t take a single bit of it for granted.

🔗 https://gofund.me/033fcfba1

We are trying to raise funds for Gizmo’s upcoming surgery and the unexpected medical care that has brought us here.

We are attempting to raise funds to help us pay for Gizmo’s upcoming surgery. Gizmo is our 19-month-old, 3-pound parti Yorkie who has been through an incredible amount in a very short time. A couple of weeks ago he was in extreme pain, mewing and couldn’t use the bathroom. He took him to our vet who told us to immediately head to the emergency room because he was critical. What we discovered was that he had a bladder stone that was blocking his ability to urinate and caused bladder obstruction. After 5 days in the ICU, he discharged him to have an operation with our vet (since the costs were substantially lower). Upon discharging him, we discovered his tests had came back showing he had a liver shunt and his vet could not perform the cystotomy to resolve the bladder stone because he wouldn’t survive. He also let us know that the hospital we had been at is the only one in our area that could do the shunt correction. We considered traveling to Ohio, but I am also my mother’s full time caregiver and she has terminal cancer (I say this not for sympathy, just so you know we have considered many alternatives), so leaving her for a few days simply was not an option. We scheduled his surgery with Metropolitan Animal Hospital for August 25th.

Last Sunday, we found ourselves back in the emergency room, back in ICU as Gizmo was displaying some neurological symptoms. He was falling over, pacing, and getting stuck in corners. He had also been throwing-up quite a bit. We discovered then that with the shunt, toxins cannot be filtered through his liver like normal and he had hepatic encephalopathy. We discharged from the hospital the following day and then followed up with his vet again. The plan now is to treat medicated for 2 weeks (as surgery at this stage can be deadly) and get him to surgery. At no point do we intend to allow our boy to suffer though. If we have to make a more difficult decision, we will. His vet assured us we aren’t there yet though.

Now comes the financial part. We paid nearly $7000 out of pocket for his initial ICU visits, including CareCredit. We have exhausted our pet emergency funds, and paid the additional costs we have incurred for the other hospitalization, medicine, and the prescription diet. We are not asking or expecting strangers to pay for everything. We are responsible pet owners and saved for rainy days, but we were not at all prepared for the flood). We have contacted all the local charities, and sold anything we could. We are only asking for help bridging the gap between the initial surgery we thought we were facing and the additional care that has become necessary, including his shunt correction and most recent hospitalization.

I never expected to be in a position where I would have to ask for help. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t. But if asking for help gives Gizmo the chance to get the surgery he needs and come home healthy, then I’ll put my pride aside and do it. I know for so many, this is absurd, but our family has had a very difficult year already with my mom’s diagnosis and losing another close family member. Saying goodbye to someone else we love, canine or human, just seems unbearable and I do not want to put my children through this.

All that I ask is that if you’re unable to donate or this isn’t a cause you support, please scroll. We have been met with so much love from Reddit Communities, but we have also received some extremely cruel messages and it- accompanied with everything- is taking a real toll on my mental health. We are a real family (people), as are you. We would never meet you with judgement and ridicule for doing what you felt in your heart was best. Im just asking for the same respect in return. If you are unable to donate, but this cause touched you, please share.

We promise anything we raise that is not needed for his care will be donated to The Shamrock Foundation in Louisville, KY. We do not want to make money off of this and we know other families could use the support as well. It’s never more been our intention to profit, only to recover and I’d love the ability to spread more love to deserving pet families.

If you’re able to donate see comments (I am told that’s the proper way to handle this) or visit r/YorkieLife for more details. If you’d rather donate to the hospital directly, please message me and I’ll send you the details.

We’re going to keep doing everything we can on our end, and we’re going to keep hoping that August 25 brings us one step closer to getting Gizmo healthy and home for good. 🩵🐶

We are trying to raise funds for Gizmo’s upcoming surgery and the unexpected medical care that has brought us here.

We are attempting to raise funds to help us pay for Gizmo’s upcoming surgery. Gizmo is our 19-month-old, 3-pound parti Yorkie who has been through an incredible amount in a very short time. A couple of weeks ago he was in extreme pain, mewing and couldn’t use the bathroom. He took him to our vet who told us to immediately head to the emergency room because he was critical. What we discovered was that he had a bladder stone that was blocking his ability to urinate and caused bladder obstruction. After 5 days in the ICU, he discharged him to have an operation with our vet (since the costs were substantially lower). Upon discharging him, we discovered his tests had came back showing he had a liver shunt and his vet could not perform the cystotomy to resolve the bladder stone because he wouldn’t survive. He also let us know that the hospital we had been at is the only one in our area that could do the shunt correction. We considered traveling to Ohio, but I am also my mother’s full time caregiver and she has terminal cancer (I say this not for sympathy, just so you know we have considered many alternatives), so leaving her for a few days simply was not an option. We scheduled his surgery with Metropolitan Animal Hospital for August 25th.

Last Sunday, we found ourselves back in the emergency room, back in ICU as Gizmo was displaying some neurological symptoms. He was falling over, pacing, and getting stuck in corners. He had also been throwing-up quite a bit. We discovered then that with the shunt, toxins cannot be filtered through his liver like normal and he had hepatic encephalopathy. We discharged from the hospital the following day and then followed up with his vet again. The plan now is to treat medicated for 2 weeks (as surgery at this stage can be deadly) and get him to surgery. At no point do we intend to allow our boy to suffer though. If we have to make a more difficult decision, we will. His vet assured us we aren’t there yet though.

Now comes the financial part. We paid nearly $7000 out of pocket for his initial ICU visits, including CareCredit. We have exhausted our pet emergency funds, and paid the additional costs we have incurred for the other hospitalization, medicine, and the prescription diet. We are not asking or expecting strangers to pay for everything. We are responsible pet owners and saved for rainy days, but we were not at all prepared for the flood). We have contacted all the local charities, and sold anything we could. We are only asking for help bridging the gap between the initial surgery we thought we were facing and the additional care that has become necessary, including his shunt correction and most recent hospitalization.

I never expected to be in a position where I would have to ask for help. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t. But if asking for help gives Gizmo the chance to get the surgery he needs and come home healthy, then I’ll put my pride aside and do it. I know for so many, this is absurd, but our family has had a very difficult year already with my mom’s diagnosis and losing another close family member. Saying goodbye to someone else we love, canine or human, just seems unbearable and I do not want to put my children through this.

All that I ask is that if you’re unable to donate or this isn’t a cause you support, please scroll. We have been met with so much love from Reddit Communities, but we have also received some extremely cruel messages and it- accompanied with everything- is taking a real toll on my mental health. We are a real family (people), as are you. We would never meet you with judgement and ridicule for doing what you felt in your heart was best. Im just asking for the same respect in return. If you are unable to donate, but this cause touched you, please share.

We promise anything we raise that is not needed for his care will be donated to The Shamrock Foundation in Louisville, KY. We do not want to make money off of this and we know other families could use the support as well. It’s never more been our intention to profit, only to recover and I’d love the ability to spread more love to deserving pet families.

If you’re able to donate see comments (I am told that’s the proper way to handle this) or visit r/YorkieLife for more details. If you’d rather donate to the hospital directly, please message me and I’ll send you the details.

We’re going to keep doing everything we can on our end, and we’re going to keep hoping that August 25 brings us one step closer to getting Gizmo healthy and home for good. 🩵🐶