Maya’s ER Veterinarian Care Fundraiser

Hi, my name is Laura Heldreth and I’m asking for donations to pay for continued emergency veterinarian care for my very sick Great Dane, Maya. Maya is diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia, nausea, and megaesophagus. The emergency team at Pacific Northwest Pet ER & Specialty Center in Vancouver, WA are giving her excellent care for all of her symptoms as they try to determine the root cause. One of the theories is that she might have Myasthenia Gravis, a neurological disorder that is highly treatable, but we won’t get the test results until June 14th.

I realized that we needed to ask our community for help when the estimate cost of care reached almost ten thousand dollars and she still needs five to seven more days of emergency treatment. Her daily treatment in the Intensive Care Unit is roughly $1,600 per day including medications. So, we are looking at a potential total cost of $21,017. All of the funds that are raised will be used to cover her vet care costs at Pacific Northwest Pet ER & Specialty Center.

I first saw Maya on a Facebook post that a friend commented on, two and a half years ago. Maya’s human parents had both died of Covid-19 and their son left her outside in a metal kennel without a cushion until he dropped her off at the local dog pound. The nonprofit Rescue Every Dog rescued her and rehabilitated her in a foster home that was a horse farm. When they asked for adoption applications, it popped into my Facebook newsfeed, and I applied for her immediately. Applications flooded in for her and we were chosen to come meet her. We drove three hours north to meet her and was thrilled when her foster mom said that we could take her home. She cried as we left with Maya.

Maya is the sweetest and smartest dog that I’ve ever known. She’s an old soul that will look you in the eye with compassion and love and also woo-woo at you when she wants something. It took some training on her part, but now I know what her different woo-woo’s and nudges mean. She’ll nudge the dryer to ask for a warm blanket, the heater for me to turn it up, and the fridge for a piece of chicken. A woo-woo growl is a request to go sit in the garden together. And she loves to move blankets around the house to build blankets nests to enjoy.

Maya saved my life when she sensed that my blood sugar had plunged dangerously low on a new diabetes medication. She insistently nudged me under my chin and guided me to the kitchen to get some juice to raise my blood sugar.

Maya hates being photographed, so I started painting her during the pandemic. And other people like them so much that they paid me to paint their dogs and other pets. When I paint, Maya sits beside me so I can pet her with my left hand while I paint with my right hand. Maya is my muse, constant companion, diabetes alert dog, and dear friend. With your financial help, we’ll be able to give her every treatment opportunity to heal from her illness and give her time to get the Myasthenia Gravis test results. Thank you for your help!