Nothing is more stressful to a pet parent than a sudden illness in your furry companion.

That’s the situation Bella’s family faced when the fluffy 13-year-old came down with a sudden sickness earlier this month. This bright little girl stopped eating and became quite weak.

Bella was admitted to Paws for Hope’s veterinary partner Killarney Animal Hospital, where the veterinary team diagnosed her with kidney failure. Her treatment involved a three-day stay in care, along with kidney flushing, monitoring and hydration medication.

The bill for this potentially life-saving treatment came to more than $1,800 for admission, veterinary care and laboratory work – much more than most families can afford, especially as a sudden expense.

That’s where you come in. Thankfully, Bella is enrolled in our Better Together Program, which allowed Paws for Hope to cover 80% of the costs. 

Bella was discharged earlier this month, though her family is still waiting on test results to understand how well she responded to her procedures. She’s still weak, but her family and care team are hopeful she’ll gain strength once she begins eating more and the medication takes effect.

“We cannot thank you enough for the help that you extended for Bella,” her family shared. 

“What a relief for the whole family to know that Bella can receive veterinary care that saved her life. We hope Bella can survive her situation right now.”

Every pet deserves veterinary care and support, but sadly, many families in Canada can’t access it. Recent polling has found one in five Canadian families struggles with the cost of veterinary care, while more than 200,000 Canadians are considering surrendering a pet, often due to cost pressures.

Can you imagine being forced to part with a family member for reasons outside of your control? We believe healthy animals are inextricably linked to healthy people and to healthy families, and by extension, to healthy communities. We ascribe to the one welfare approach to service delivery, which understands that in order to support pets in the long term, we need to support their people.

It’s why we have programs like Better Together. The initiative works to align social service and veterinary resources with community funding sources. Making these connections improves veterinary access for under-served families while helping social service and animal care professionals to better meet their goals, too.

Under the program, qualified pet guardians make a 20% co-payment for veterinary services, while veterinary partners provide a 20% discount for emergency care and 33% discount for preventative care. Social service and animal welfare agencies provide a vital link connecting everyone together. Between 2021 and 2022 alone, for example, we helped families across B.C. with more than $162,000 worth of veterinary care. 

It is important and potentially life-saving work, and it can’t happen without the incredible support of our Paws for Hope community. We are grateful to every single person who gives so that families like Bella’s can continue to be happy, healthy and together.

You can help us continue with this work by making a tax-deductible donation. Every contribution helps us enroll one more family and to be there when a crisis strikes.