I never thought I’d see the day where I’d have to make one of these posts, but here I go.

This is Debo, he’s my 4 year-old pit bull that loves absolutely everyone, taking long walks and napping in the sun. He’s the prince of my family’s heart, and he’s lived a pretty great life up until recently. In the short span of a week, he’s lost a good amount of weight and couldn’t keep his food down. We hoped for the best in switching him over to a diet of boiled chicken and rice, but since our attempts at remedying him at home weren’t working, we found a vet open late on a Saturday and got him a check-up.

I was hoping for a gastroenteritis diagnosis, but it turns out his kidneys are on the verge of failing him. Due to all these recalls concerning dog treats, the cause looks to be a brand of Jerky Treats made by the Del Monte Company, distributed at Costco. We’ve done as much research as possible when Debo came to us as a puppy, to make sure he’d live a long and healthy life, but it looks like this oversight in a brand we trusted has now bitten us in the ass, and our big dumb palooka isn’t what he used to be.

We caught the situation early enough, but even with his overnight stay at the vet hospital, he was only given about six months to live, should he recover from this. I really do hope my dog proves his vet wrong, as he’s done so for so many people in our neighborhood who once had a fear of his breed.

This situation comes at a difficult time for me and my family, as I’ve lost my decent-paying job, my parents and brother all work, but we’re barely getting by. We’ve put the full amount of his care onto a credit card, but I do not want the burden of debt to fall on my parents, and I want to do whatever I can to help out with this situation.

The total amount for his care went from an initial $830 dollars to a little over $1,300, and that was just for this visit alone.

I’m doing everything I can to find another job to earn enough to pay this off, but I’m at a loss right now. This has been my only four-legged friend that’s ever been in this dire of a medical situation and he deserves to live a long healthy life.

For the first time ever, I’ve actually set up a donation button, hoping that some of you could spare a dollar at most to help pay off his bills, and any future care he might need. I wouldn’t be asking for donations unless I felt the need was dire enough. Even if you can’t donate, if you just spread the word, I really appreciate the sentiment.

He means everything to my family, and he deserves all the time he has left in this world.