Help with Pierogies emergency vet bills

Hi I’m Natalie and I’m being very humbled here by having to ask/raise money to cover the emergency pet bills for my sweet, adorable and loving yinzer boxer pup Pierogi. As I often help raise lots of money to help other animals, this is not something I’m used to or comfortable doing.

Today I experienced one of the most terrifying and stressful situations of my pet owning life. I took Pierogi to the dog park and as soon as we got there - she laid down and I couldn’t (for almost 2 hours) for the life of me get her to get up so we could leave. She was a bit lethargic yesterday, but ate/drank as normal and seemed better today. SO I wasn’t sure if she was just being a spicy “teenager” (as she loves to do to me) and wanted to just lay there to sunbathe (which is one of her favorite hobbies) or if something was truly wrong. A kind guy who I see often at the dog park came over and helped me get her up so I could take her home. As soon as she got up her back legs weren’t working and she couldn’t walk, so I immediately knew something was seriously wrong. He carried her to my car for me and in a panic I rushed her to my regular vet (they are amazing btw and got her in right away). They advised besides the leg issues she also had an EXTREMELY high temperature (almost 106 degrees which is dangerous and can cause neurological damages), low platelets and I needed to get her to the emergency pet hospital ASAP. I was given an emergency vet bill with a “low” range estimate of $4,000-$6,000 (not counting the $420 regular vet bill from today), but the final emergency vet bill could be much higher depending on how long she has to stay there and what they need to do. She’s having a ton of tests being run and will most likely have to stay there for several days. I’m so beside myself with anxiety and stress worrying about her. The house and my heart are so quiet and empty without her being here.

Since I like to keep my social media posts light, fluffy and funny, I’m sure most of yinz aren’t fully aware of the dumpster fire that’s been my life for the last 2 years (since I don’t put my personal business out there much). I’ve been battling some serious depression and while I’m a pro at masking it with jokes/smiles, it’s there, it’s BAD and it’s no joke. The icing on my turd cake and the reason I’m here being humbled by having to create this fundraiser is that my finances are even more terrible than my towel. Even more unfortunately for me, I was put in this crappy financial situation not because I spent/managed my money like a jag, but due to the extremely selfish shitty actions of a few select jags that should have cared about me the most, but didn’t and I’m now stuck with the consequences of those actions. While I have to accept the negative consequences of those shitty actions on my own life, I just CANNOT accept them jeopardizing and making me be unable to try and save my innocent sweet dog Pierogi. Anyone who has met her knows she loves so hard, she’s so sweet and loves EVERY SINGLE PERSON (and dog!) she meets. SO I’m going to do anything I can (within legal limits lol) to give her the best possible chance and what she needs to get better. I lost 2 pets last year (RIP Troy Catamalu and Mrs (Sidney) Clawsby), so I can’t even consider what life would be like if I lost another one. ESPECIALLY the goodest girl who ever lived in South Side Slopes. Her 4th birthday is next week and she needs to be here to celebrate it. She’s so young and funny and wampy (which is her nickname) and has so much more love and joy to give this world.

So I’m sorry this was such a long (and major over sharing of my personal crap) summary of why I’m creating this fundraiser. As uncomfy as it is for me to share so much of my private life, I wanted to be as honest and transparent as possible, so yinz could understand the importance and the justification for this request. I REALLY try my best to not be a jag, to be kind, compassionate and help others whenever I can. SO I’m TRYING to be hopeful some of that good karma will find its way back to me and help Pierogi. It’s been pretty dark and buzzkillington over here for me for so long, so maybe me creating this fundraiser and (over) sharing my story will maybe bring some light back to me, help me get some of my sparkle back and help bring Pierogi back home where she IS the sparkle and is so so so so so loved and missed.

Thank yinz so much. ANY amount will help and is most appreciated.

P.S. I can’t stress enough to check in on your friends. Please take it from me, reaching out when you are not doing OK can be one of the hardest things ever. And I’m not just insinuating reaching out for help. Just reaching out to a friend to say hi or make it feel like someone actually cares about you can be so incredibly hard. Big thank you to all my peeps who have/do check-in. Love yinz.