Friday, April 10, 2026, we took our lab, Cash, to Faithful Friends due to bloody diarrhea and…read morevomiting. Bloodwork normal except elevated liver marker and x-ray negative for bowel obstruction. Fluids given under skin, then we were called to come get him since no diarrhea or vomiting since we left.
When we arrived, Dr. Chelsea Olson, told us Cash had bloody diarrhea just before we got there so would need to go to Emergency Hospital as their office would be closed until Monday. We were concerned because we know firsthand how expensive the Emergency Hospital can be. We asked her to get some prices. She said it would be $1,500 to $2,000 per day for observation, but he would need bloodwork, x-rays, ultrasound and possibly transfusions and surgery. We started realizing that the Emergency Hospital could cost $15,000 to $20,000 before Monday Morning.
We kept trying to find options that weren't so cost prohibitive. We asked if we could bring Cash home, but doctor told us he could bleed out within 2 days and die a painful death, so going home was not an option. The doctor said Cash could have a possible perforation so we asked if she could do surgery that afternoon which would eliminate the 3-day stay at the Emergency Hospital, but she said she wouldn't. She also said he could have Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis, but never told us that with IV fluids, antibiotics and pain meds, he could recover from that. During the course of our conversation, Dr. Olson mentioned 3-4 times that there were staff in her office that "wanted our dog" and were "animal lovers."
As we were lead to believe it was a life or death situation, we felt we had run out of options. During this time while we were in agony and sobbing, Dr. Olson sat there and NEVER ONCE presented us with options such as Care Credit, that we could surrender Cash to the Humane Society for treatment, then could be eligible to adopt him back, vets in Denver give care at reduced rates and there were other vets open that could care for Cash over the weekend, etc.
If we had been given even ONE of these options, we would NEVER have surrendered Cash!
We knew contracts have a 3-day period to change your mind so we went back Monday and sent an email of our intentions, stating we secured money to pay for all expenses incurred over the weekend so we could bring Cash home, but no response, so we went back Tuesday at which time we spoke to manager, but she said the person "was not willing to give him back." In our opinion, a TRUE "animal lover" would have rejoiced that Cash's family had come up with the money so he could go home to his family!
In our opinion, and in our heart of hearts, we feel we were given the worst possible scenario so we would have no choice but to surrender Cash. We feel this was a conflict of interest and extremely unethical to secure our dog for someone on her staff.
My son, Jason, is disabled with multiple sclerosis and Cash was his constant companion. OUR HEARTS ARE BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR ...