Ziggy's Extensive Vet Bills
Donation protected
UPDATE: Ziggy's condition went from recovering to worse. His other hip popped out of the hip socket and now he has no mobility to use his back legs. He is on pain killers tonight and will be going to my cousin who is his vet in the morning for her to pop his leg back in to place. I'm not giving up on my family member, I will not euthanize my baby, I will get him a wheelchair to live out his life. I am devastated, heartbroken, and lost at this point. If you can help, please, anything, I am asking with my whole heart and soul. Please share this post.
Hello fellow fur-brothers and fur-sisters, I feel really embarrassed and needy to even create this GoFundMe page, but many people I know and strangers on the "Dogs Make Me Smile" Facebook page insisted that I put this out here to see if I can get financial help for two steep veterinarian bills that accumulated from my service dog, Ziggy's injuries. I normally would not ask for help, I'd rather work more jobs to raise the money, but time is of the essence for my dog's health and for my support he gives me. My service dog, Ziggy's hip got dislocated on Thursday, March 28th from jumping down off of my sofa when he was alerting that someone was at the front door. I immediately took him to the emergency room and the vet examined him and found that his leg bone dislocated from his hip joint by viewing his x-rays. The vet also noticed he has a heart murmur and an infected tooth. They don’t perform surgeries there, so I had to take him home in distress with no pain meds from the doctor, just a muscle relaxing shot so the vet could manipulate his leg and hip. I was up all night holding him stable while he was whimpering in pain. I had to call out of work the next day and took him to another vet at 10 am for pain relief for my baby. The second vet popped his leg in the joint, but it kept on popping out, so she popped it in place and I helped hold Ziggy so she can splint the leg in an upward position to heal. I have to take him back on Monday, April 1st for a follow up to see if surgery is needed to keep his leg in place. If surgery is needed, I am sure it will cost way more than I am asking for this campaign. I also applied for Care Credit for his medical expenses and I was denied. As if the emergency bill wasn't enough to break me, the bill from the second vet took the rest of my money that I needed to pay my April mortgage, utility bills, and other various bills along with food, gas, etc. Those two bills placed me so behind for my budget that many people insisted that I create this page for financial help. I am a special needs teacher, living paycheck to paycheck, and I budget very carefully so that I can manage my bills in the summer months when teachers don't get paid. I had to call out of work to take care of my furry family member and being a special ed teacher, my district isn’t very happy that I called out as “serious family illness,” but he is family and I need him as my PTSD dog who is registered with the state. I have to provide the registration of my service dog and a letter from the vet to my school board so I can get paid for "serious family illness" for that day I took care of Ziggy. (I'm praying they pay me for that day.) We all love our fur babies like they’re our children and since I’m an empty nester and one brother 1,000 away, Ziggy is my everything and helps support me with my internal disabilities. I can understand not everyone has extra money for a stranger's expenses for a dog, but he's not just a dog, he's my buddy, my companion who puts a smile on my face so I can go on with my day. At the least, could you keep Ziggy in your prayers that his hip gets better, and if he does have to get surgery I don't lose him during surgery? Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to read all of this (and please pray that I don’t get RIF’d from my teaching position). Again, I am thankful for anything you can provide, this is very hard for me to even post this and create this campaign, but it is for Ziggy who I adore and helps me greatly. Much Love, Paula
Hello fellow fur-brothers and fur-sisters, I feel really embarrassed and needy to even create this GoFundMe page, but many people I know and strangers on the "Dogs Make Me Smile" Facebook page insisted that I put this out here to see if I can get financial help for two steep veterinarian bills that accumulated from my service dog, Ziggy's injuries. I normally would not ask for help, I'd rather work more jobs to raise the money, but time is of the essence for my dog's health and for my support he gives me. My service dog, Ziggy's hip got dislocated on Thursday, March 28th from jumping down off of my sofa when he was alerting that someone was at the front door. I immediately took him to the emergency room and the vet examined him and found that his leg bone dislocated from his hip joint by viewing his x-rays. The vet also noticed he has a heart murmur and an infected tooth. They don’t perform surgeries there, so I had to take him home in distress with no pain meds from the doctor, just a muscle relaxing shot so the vet could manipulate his leg and hip. I was up all night holding him stable while he was whimpering in pain. I had to call out of work the next day and took him to another vet at 10 am for pain relief for my baby. The second vet popped his leg in the joint, but it kept on popping out, so she popped it in place and I helped hold Ziggy so she can splint the leg in an upward position to heal. I have to take him back on Monday, April 1st for a follow up to see if surgery is needed to keep his leg in place. If surgery is needed, I am sure it will cost way more than I am asking for this campaign. I also applied for Care Credit for his medical expenses and I was denied. As if the emergency bill wasn't enough to break me, the bill from the second vet took the rest of my money that I needed to pay my April mortgage, utility bills, and other various bills along with food, gas, etc. Those two bills placed me so behind for my budget that many people insisted that I create this page for financial help. I am a special needs teacher, living paycheck to paycheck, and I budget very carefully so that I can manage my bills in the summer months when teachers don't get paid. I had to call out of work to take care of my furry family member and being a special ed teacher, my district isn’t very happy that I called out as “serious family illness,” but he is family and I need him as my PTSD dog who is registered with the state. I have to provide the registration of my service dog and a letter from the vet to my school board so I can get paid for "serious family illness" for that day I took care of Ziggy. (I'm praying they pay me for that day.) We all love our fur babies like they’re our children and since I’m an empty nester and one brother 1,000 away, Ziggy is my everything and helps support me with my internal disabilities. I can understand not everyone has extra money for a stranger's expenses for a dog, but he's not just a dog, he's my buddy, my companion who puts a smile on my face so I can go on with my day. At the least, could you keep Ziggy in your prayers that his hip gets better, and if he does have to get surgery I don't lose him during surgery? Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to read all of this (and please pray that I don’t get RIF’d from my teaching position). Again, I am thankful for anything you can provide, this is very hard for me to even post this and create this campaign, but it is for Ziggy who I adore and helps me greatly. Much Love, Paula
Organizer
Paula Trapuzzano
Organizer
Westville, NJ