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I need your support.

Steef66

Steef66

Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
5,465
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Hello fellow ship modelers,

We are Bernice and Stephan, and we are raising money for our beloved dog Beauty. She is a 9-year-old girl. She means everything to us, and we love her very much. She is a real cuddler who is always by our side.

She helped us through a difficult time in the past when we were going through hard times. Her presence helped us keep our spirits up. That made our bond even stronger. But now that she turned 9 in September, we noticed that something was wrong with her. She hadn't been herself for a while, didn't feel like playing, slept a lot, drank a lot (greedily) and urinated frequently. During our last visit to the vet, it turned out to be more serious than we had expected. Beauty has type 2 diabetes. That was a shock. Because Beauty now has to have daily insulin injections and special food for dogs with diabetes. She has been receiving this since November 11, 2025, and now, almost two weeks later, we notice that she has improved enormously from the daily injections and the special food. She is playing again, and her excessive drinking and urination are back to normal levels. Fortunately, she likes the special food. And according to the vet, she can live to a normal old age if we give her daily injections and pay close attention to her diet. Of course we want that for her, especially now that we can see the effect and benefits.

We already get a small discount at the Belgian vet we go to. (We live next to the Belgian border, which is an advantage over Dutch vets.) A consultation with urine and blood tests costs €100, which is much less than at a vet in the Netherlands. A visit to the vet two to three times a year is definitely necessary for the first year. After that, check-ups are every six months, provided there are no serious complications. Because anything can go wrong when administering insulin.

Medication costs €380 per year if no other issues arise (this amount could easily double if, during our next visit to the vet, she needs to be injected twice a day). The special diet food costs around €700 to €800 per year. That's more than double what we used to spend on food for her. On an annual basis, Beauty's healthcare costs for medication are €380, veterinary costs are at least €300, and the extra cost of the more expensive special food is €400, for a total of €1,080. It may not seem like much on an annual basis, but given our income and budget, this is not affordable for us. We do not have that much money available. In addition, the recent vet bills already exceeded €175. That is why we are asking for your help to extend Beauty's life and make it more pleasant, so that we can enjoy her company and care for her for a few more years. And so that we don't have to worry about this anymore in the coming years.

Feel free to donate or not. I don't want to force anyone to do so. But what I would like to ask is that you at least share the crowdfunding campaign with your contacts and on your social media. The greater the reach, the sooner we will achieve our goal of keeping Beauty with us for longer in reasonably good health.

Thanks for your support.

Stephan and Bernice

gofund.me

Help ons Beauty met onder controle houden van haar Diabetes, organized by Bernice Leijendeckers

Hoi, wij zijn Bernice en Stephan en wij zamelen geld in voor… Bernice Leijendeckers heeft je hulp nodig voor Help ons Beauty met onder controle houden van haar Diabetes
gofund.me gofund.me
 
Update after 2 weeks of medication and special diet:

Now, exactly two weeks later, Beauty is doing well thanks to the medication and special food. She really liked the special kibble for diabetic dogs, which was a huge stroke of luck. She does have to get used to the meal times, though. She now gets three meals a day. And she gets her insulin injection immediately after her main meal. She sometimes doesn't like this very much. Fortunately, she doesn't notice it most of the time. But it's also really taking some getting used to for me to administer it. Sticking someone you care so much about with a needle is never fun, especially when you prick her and she feels it. Sometimes that just happens, no matter how hard you try to do it right. The campaign has already received a number of donations, which will keep us going for a while with medication and food. We are very happy about that, but more is needed. Especially because we are seeing very clear results in her health. She wants to play again, albeit to a limited extent. She tires quickly. This was different before; she didn't want to touch her toy ball. Now she does. She has also stopped drinking and urinating frequently. We no longer have to take her outside in the middle of the night. She now sleeps through the night, preferably wrapped in a blanket, because she is and remains a cold-blooded girl.

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dockattner said:
Are you set up to receive 'payments' through PayPal? I would like to help.
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I don't have PayPal, but I know someone who does. I don't see anywhere on the site that says you can't pay with PayPal. But you can't access the link. Strange, try the QR code. Otherwise, we'll find another solution. see PM

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Todays update
Went to the vet today. Beauty has developed a swollen eye and she needed a check-up anyway to see how her blood sugar levels were doing.
Her blood sugar levels were very good (94 mg/dl (approx. 5.2 mmol/l)), the Royal Canin diabetes kibble and the insulin injections are doing their job.
However, the swollen eye was a disappointment; it turned out to be an infected root of a molar. It will need to be pulled soon, once the infection has cleared up. She has been given antibiotics for this, a 20-day course, and then she will need to go back to have the molar pulled.
Today's costs were €108 for a bag of kibble, a bottle of insulin, antibiotic tablets and the consultation.
Without your help, this would have been a problem, so thank you for that.
But we're not there yet and there will be many more costs to come, including the monthly costs for insulin and diet food, but now also the costs for the tooth extraction. So your donations are desperately needed. And please continue to share.

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And as you can see, besides building model ships, I can also open a dog grooming salon, wash, blow-dry, shave, trim nails, etc. No problem for me.
 
How delighted to hear of your dogs progress; good luck to her and you.

I am ignorant of the ways of the internet and the 'crowd funding' possibilities.
My ongoing 'Pugwash's Peg-leg' ordeal/adventure thread provides me with immense support from forum members, which I value above all else.

No one has offered money donations towards my struggles, coping with the loss of a leg.
It never occurred to me to ask, yet wouldn't have expected that kind of help.

Again, my best wishes to you and your pet.
 
pugwash said:
How delighted to hear of your dogs progress; good luck to her and you.

I am ignorant of the ways of the internet and the 'crowd funding' possibilities.
My ongoing 'Pugwash's Peg-leg' ordeal/adventure thread provides me with immense support from forum members, which I value above all else.

No one has offered money donations towards my struggles, coping with the loss of a leg.
It never occurred to me to ask, yet wouldn't have expected that kind of help.

Again, my best wishes to you and your pet.
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Thank you, Pugwash for your best wishes.
If you really need financial assistance, you or someone else can always request it through such platforms. I can imagine that adjustments to your home are necessary for you and that this entails costs. If those costs are not covered, you will have to contribute to them yourself. And if your budget is insufficient, you may sometimes be dependent on others and on donations. So asking for help is not unusual if you need it. I really recommend that route if you find you need it.
We do not have the money available to cover these costs on a monthly basis; we are not fortunate enough to live a carefree life with a high income.
 
Steef66 said:
Thank you, Pugwash for your best wishes.
If you really need financial assistance, you or someone else can always request it through such platforms. I can imagine that adjustments to your home are necessary for you and that this entails costs. If those costs are not covered, you will have to contribute to them yourself. And if your budget is insufficient, you may sometimes be dependent on others and on donations. So asking for help is not unusual if you need it. I really recommend that route if you find you need it.
We do not have the money available to cover these costs on a monthly basis; we are not fortunate enough to live a carefree life with a high income.
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I'm of the persuasion where asking for help is an anathema.
Even dealing with arrogant GP's is beyond the pale.

I've always had dogs; the last 2 made it to 20, by which time they were both deaf and blind.
After the last one departed I realised I was getting to an age where I was putting the needs of the dog before my own, so decided to go without a new one, which would not be fair on either of us.

Living alone, without family and friends, not having a dog is a lonely business.
 
pugwash said:
I'm of the persuasion where asking for help is an anathema.
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That was also a huge hurdle for me. We had never needed this before. But after losing our own business because we were both sick and disabled, we sometimes had to make do with what we had. But now we were faced with a dilemma: let a relatively young dog waste away in a year with a lot of unpleasant side effects, or give her a few more years of good health and fun until she reaches the end of her life. And then I hope for another nine years. She will probably be the last one.

pugwash said:
Living alone, without family and friends, not having a dog is a lonely business.
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I understand exactly what you mean here. Just like us, you won't be able to go out as easily to meet friends or other people. You are more confined to your home because of your disability. We are also confined to our home far too much and therefore sometimes feel lonely. A dog is a great source of joy. I always say that I won't get another dog after her. But I will probably miss her far too much.
 
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