We need your help!!
SUMMARY….
We need your help to raise dollars to cover vet bills for Genie’s stay at hospital including specialist surgery. Our bill to date is around $10,000 and creeping up and obviously not something we expected.
Darling Genie has been in animal hospital since January 6 and in her time there she has needed exploratory specialist surgery during which they removed her gall bladder and all fingers and paws crossed that this is the answer to all her troubles and she continues to improve.
During her stay, a big decision was made by CRQ to take Genie back into our care as she was still within her 28 day trial period after adoption, and this is not something we anticipated happening, so we felt taking her back under our wing was the right thing to do. Her animal hospital bill at that point was up to $7,000 and has been covered by her wonderful mum Nicola, who had a sale on her business page Dizzy Dog Collars which many of you supported and we all thank you for that! Nicola will still be caring for Genie when she’s allowed to leave hospital.
So in addition to the first $7,000, Genie’s medical expenses are currently around an additional $10,000 and creeping up daily. She will also be needing follow ups and close monitoring and tests with our regular vets once she is home.
Nicola has got together a wonderful collection of prizes from local businesses and supporters to help Chihuahua Rescue Qld raise the additional funds to cover Genie’s hospital stay, surgery and towards ongoing treatment. Click below to buy tickets in Genie’s raffle or donate directly to CRQ. Genie’s story and updates are below.
Genie’s Story
Please when reading Genie’s story (like when reading anyone’s story) keep in mind that this is a very summarised version of events and in our summary of Genie, we’ve done our best to give you a good understanding of what is happening but it not practical or possible to relay or explain every tiny detail. We ask that you please don’t fill in the gaps with assumptions or suggestions, just love and kindness towards Genie’, her mum Nicola, our rescue, the team of vets and specialists and know that everything possible that can be done/ could have been done / has been done for Genie has and is being done to help her. Thank you ❤
Genie came to Chihuahua Rescue Qld in September 2023. During her time in foster care, we discovered she had an issue with her liver and did all we could to get to the bottom of it with regular vet visits and blood tests to recheck markers, along with a specialist ultrasound and opinion, but there was no definite conclusion as to what the issue was. Given Genie was healthy at home, showed no specific physical signs that are typically associated with liver troubles, and her blood test results were staying consistent, we were happy and excited for her to be a foster fail and she was officially adopted by her foster mum Nicola in December. There was no way those besties were letting each other go ❤
On the 6th of January, Genie became unwell and ended up at Animal Referral Hospital (ARH) and as at writing this (on the 14th of Jan) she is still in the animal hospital.
When Genie arrived at emergency, she had what appeared to be a tummy ache and her liver was the main concern but all her liver levels were within normal range. The vets helped her for the pain and kept her on fluids, but at that stage there weren’t any clear results as to what was causing Genie to be unwell.
Overnight Genie spiked a fever and the following day while ultrasounds and more blood work were done, it showed her liver levels had got significantly worse overnight and she was put on antibiotics. Her 3rd ultrasound showed that she’d developed significant swelling in her abdomen near her liver along with free fluid. The vets’ main concerns at that point were hepatitis or pancreatitis. A specialist ultrasound was booked for the following day.
UPDATE 1 ~ 10 January
Genie sadly is still in hospital. We still don’t have a 100% certain diagnosis, but we can be fairly sure this is liver or gall bladder related, and there is an infection because her temperature keeps spiking.
We made a big decision yesterday to take Genie back into the care of CRQ and we will be taking care of her medical needs and vet bills from here. Genie was still within her 28 day trial period after adoption, and this is not something we anticipated happening, so we felt taking her back under our wing was the right thing to do. Her vet bill up until now of $7,000 has been covered by her wonderful mum Nicola, who had a sale on her business page Dizzy Dog Collars which many of you supported and we all thank you for that! Nicola will still be caring for Genie when she’s allowed to leave hospital.
UPDATE 2 ~ 12 Jan (Morning)
Genie has now been at the Animal Referral Hospital for 6 days and the update we received yesterday afternoon was neither here nor there. Her temp is still high, over 39 - 40 degrees, the daily ultrasounds are showing little improvement, and not giving any clear answers. Her gallbladder and pancreas both look ok, but there is a little blob of fluid next to her gallbladder that is mysterious, and attempts to get a decent fluid sample have been unsuccessful due to it’s small size.
She’s eating a small amount on her own each day, and sometimes seems a bit uncomfortable but at other times is more bright. It’s a really tricky situation, and we don’t 100% know what the absolute right thing to do is, but we have to do something!
We’ve opted for her to have an exploratory surgery done with the specialist surgical team at the hospital and hope that gives us some clear answers. If her gall bladder does seem to be the issue under closer examination, then we will remove it if it’s safe to do so. We’re just waiting for another update, but this surgery is likely happening today, so we will update more as we hear from the hospital
UPDATE 3 ~ 12 Jan (afternoon)
Genie has woken up from her surgery and seems to be doing quite well. Her gall bladder had sprung a leak and some bile had entered her system which is why she was feeling so unwell and had a high fever.
The gallbladder has now been removed and it will be a slow recovery over the next 3-4 weeks with lots of rest and TLC required, but she’s going to feel so much better having it out. She’ll be staying in hospital for another night or two until she’s strong enough to go home.
UPDATE 4 ~ 14 jan
We’ve received our daily update and Genie is doing well. It’s now two days post surgery and since that yucky gallbladder has been taken out her temperature has been back to normal. She’s also eating like a champion, so that’s always a good sign.
She’s being weaned off her pain meds and hopefully tomorrow she can return home. By tomorrow she will have spent 9 nights in hospital, so she’ll be grateful to get back home and tell the Shiht’s all about her big ordeal!