Meet Haus
One of Wild Hearts 2021 goals was to increase funding so that they can help support more pets in need of critical diagnostics like MRI’s. These procedures are expensive and usually urgent, and the fear of needing to pay upwards of $3,000 without warning can be crippling and often impossible for a lot of pet parents, especially knowing that expensive surgery is often the next step.
Last week, they received an application for a sweet young Frenchie named Haus. He had suddenly lost mobility in his hind legs, and was declining rapidly. His primary care veterinarian encouraged an emergency visit to a specialist, but the financial hit of a consultation, MRI, and most likely surgery was impossible for his loving owner, who was dealing with job loss due to Covid-19. Wild Hearts knew this was an emergency situation, because getting Haus care as quickly as possible would give him the best chance at regaining his mobility. Normally, they don’t have the capacity to assist in emergencies like this, but with the heavy snowstorm bearing down on the city that night, they knew they had to do something before travel became treacherous.
They made some calls.
One, to a generous donor who’d asked before to help cover a diagnostic procedure like this. This donor immediately contacted a surgeon at VSC in Buffalo Grove, who agreed he needed to come in immediately and would call his team to let them know Haus was coming in. One, to the owner - to let her know that not only were we able to help Haus thanks to Lola and Lottie’s incredible donation, but that we were also going to send her to VSC that very night. People immediately reached out to assist with transportation from the south to the north suburbs if it was needed. They received a message from a friend who works in the ER at the specialty center letting them know she’d heard Haus was on his way - said that she was technically finished with her shift, but was going to stay and make sure that he was comfortable and stabilized first. She continued to update us the next day during her shift; how he was doing, the results of his MRI, when he was in surgery, and how he was recovering. Within 48 hours, Haus had undergone an MRI, emergency spinal surgery, and was resting comfortably back home, snuggling with his mom. His road to recovery won’t be easy, but we are confident in his ability to regain mobility thanks to the generosity and swift action of a big-hearted donor, an exquisite surgeon, a dedicated ER specialist, and the trust of Haus’s owner that we could help get him the care he desperately needed.
There were a lot of happy tears that night, and were overwhelmed by the way all of the pieces fell into place for Haus and his family. These are the kinds of cases Wild Hearts wants to help with even more in 2021, but can't do it without your help and support. Please consider a one-time donation or becoming a monthly donor for Wild Hearts, so that we can continue to help dogs like Haus in their time of need.