Farmingdale Family Seeks Help Paying Puppy's Parvovirus Treatment

FARMINGDALE, NY — A Farmingdale family is seeking monetary help with Elsa, their newly-adopted dog who tested positive for parvovirus. Elsa, a diluted merle Aussie mix who is also blind and deaf, is 8 weeks old.

Parvo is a life-threatening disease, though puppies younger than 4 months old are most at risk, according to American Veterinary Medical Association. Most deaths from parvovirus occur within 48 to 72 hours following the onset of clinical signs.

A GoFundMe page on behalf of Elsa has a $5,000 goal, with $855 having been met as of Tuesday evening. The page was created late Tuesday morning by Elsa's owner, Kara Timms. GoFundMe verified the page.

Timms says she adopted Elsa Thursday from Care Hope Animal Rescue, knowing her new pup was blind and deaf. She was told Saturday morning Elsa's litter mate had parvo. She brought Elsa to Banfield Pet Hospital in East Farmingdale, where she and Timms' three other dogs tested negative for parvo. Then, at 9 p.m. Monday, Elsa began vomiting and experiencing diarrhea.

Elsa was retested at Banfield on Tuesday, with the result coming back positive for parvo. Her new family then brought her to Long Island Veterinary Specialists in Plainview. Timms says her bill at Banfield came to $1,000, while the three-day estimate at Long Island Veterinary Specialists is between nearly $3,000 and $4,660. Elsa's stay might go beyond three days.

"We started a GoFundMe for the lower end of what this will probably cost us," Timms told Patch. "I just want our baby home with us. She's so loved already. We know rescue isn't free and we know it's hard, but this really is a worst case scenario. But we're going to do everything we can."

Timms wrote on GoFundMe that the family is "extremely overwhelmed and scared."

"The price for [Elsa's] treatment is going to be very costly," she wrote. "We are never the types to ask for help. But she deserves a real chance at life. We aren't going to give up. Whatever you can do to help offset the cost is so appreciated. It's been a horrible 2020. We've had so much loss. We lost my uncle, who was a nurse, to covid, then his wife, my aunt a week later, then our family dog. We can't take anymore loss. We want our Else to make it. Please help. Thank you everyone."