Sadie's Story
Sadie
“Sadie got very sick, very suddenly, during an already very financially difficult time for our family. We had just done a cross country move, were trying to get settled into our home, our cat had HCM + SAM and needed and Echocardiogram and all of his heart medications adjusted just 3 weeks before Sadie got sick, and I myself was struggling with some personal health issues.
Sadie woke me one morning around 4 am crying and wouldn’t stop. She was severely bloated and clearly very uncomfortable. I ran her into our vet as soon as they opened, they did X-rays and said we needed to get to and Emergency Vet NOW so her stomach wouldn’t twist or flip. We went to ER #1 where we sat and waited for 3 hours just for them to tell us they’d just watch and wait to see if the bloat would go down overnight.
We were not going to risk letting Sadie’s condition worsen by just waiting around, so we drove 1.5 hours to the best ER around where she was diagnosed with Pancreatitis. She was immediately given Panoquell, an anti nausea and pain medication. Her bills between the two ERs quickly added up to be over $6,000. We nearly maxed out our Care Credit card, but that didn’t matter, Sadie was worth it. What most people don’t know is that Sadie beat cancer just 9 short months ago. I wasn’t about to lose her like this. We were able to take her home and our regular vet took her every day for the rest of the week to continue IV Panoquell and fluids until she regained her strength, her labs looked better and her bloat went away. Care Credit initially covered the bill… but I wasn’t left trying to figure out how on earth to make the monthly payments.
I went online trying to find rescues and organizations that may be able to help with emergencies like ours. Left and right I was getting denied before I was even able to submit our application because our case wasn’t serious enough, or because we already paid the bill, or because our pet survived… I was losing hope. Rochester Hope for Pets was the second to last organization I attempted to contact, and they are the ONLY ones that actually responded to me.
Within 4 short days they awarded Sadie a very generous amount toward her medical bills. I cried my eyes out! I chatted back and forth with two of the ladies over email and they were so genuinely sweet, asking how our girl was now, I shared picture updates and I felt like they truly cared about Sadie’s recovery. I am so incredibly grateful for this organization, and I cannot wait for the day that I can donate back to them to help another family that finds themselves in a hardship like we were in.
Rochester Hope for Pets truly helped us when no one else could, and in a time I felt so incredibly low and like I was failing to provide enough for my family. They are angels, and I’m forever grateful for them.
I’m happy to report that Sadie had made a full recovery. She will be on a special diet for life, and will never be able to eat “table foods” or most treats again for risk of another attack, but that is ok, we’ll do anything for our girl! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! - Jennifer Ebersold, Sadie’s pawrent
