Help Royce & Stella Get Treatment

UPDATE: 6/29: Stella (fka Esme from TRAPRS) is not holding down the medications for treatment. Upon her first dose, she violently threw up her dinner with 7 different episodes. We are connecting with our primary vet on how to give her treatment without upsetting her stomach.

Royce continues to be treated in Internal Medicine in a local specialty hospital, and he is having fluctuating symptoms. He was given a nasal feeding tube last weekend to help with nutrients as he hadn't eaten in over two weeks. Unfortunately, he vomited up his feeding tube and I cannot afford to put it back in. Doctors are treating him with oral medications instead of using the tube and we are hopeful he may be able to keep these medications down despite his consistent regurgitation.

UPDATE: 6/28: our second dog, Stella, has also tested positive and will begin treatment today.

Our dog, Royce, was recently diagnosed with a very rare parasitic infection called heterobilzharia.

He has been sick since mid-May with what started ut as obsessive drinking and urination and quickly led to severe GI issues along with other unpleasant symptoms.

During routine bloodwork for drinking/urination the vet found an increased level of calcium, which can be due to several causes. Royce underwent a multitude of testing and images to rule out a variety of diseases from Addison's to Cushings. Every test came back negative and there was not anything notable in his scans.

After weeks of testing and medical bills he was "diagnosed" with lymphoma. Vets came to this conclusion after ruling out other illnesses. However, this was an inaccurate diagnosis. He was referred to an oncologist and even started on chemotherapy! This made his symptoms worse.

The oncologist mentioned this parasite but did say it was extremely rare and they had only seen a few cases. We submitted his samples for testing to rule this out as well and within a week were given positive test results. We were able to finally be on the right track, although we had burned though over half of our pet insurance maximum by that time,

After spending thousands of dollars on treatments and testing for cancer we are now, finally, on the right track with the correct diagnosis of heterobilzharia.

There is one clinic I've been able to find in Austin that is able to treat him due to the rarity of this disease. Treatment medication alone is $800 and it may take multiple attempts to kill all the parasites in his body. He has been in and out of ICU for weeks. Each overnight in the hospital is $1,300. He has been in ICU since 6/20 and in and out of hospital care since May 30th. Although I do have pet insurance, I am quickly meeting my max but do not want to give up. I want to ensure he can be treated, Can be hospitalized through treatment, and can get back to his healthy and loving life.

Royce is a loved member of our family and neither he nor Jarrod and I, or his little sis Stella are ready to give up hope. Help us get Royce the treatment and supportive care that he needs. Help us help Royce to keep fighting. Thank you.