Karen Ortolano’s
Fundraiser

This is our Jake – Schweet Baby Jake if you knew him well. He was my first dog, an 83 pound, almost-human wonder who stole my heart and spoke directly to my soul. He shared his world with me from March 14, 2004, until December 2, 2006. It wasn’t long enough, but it was everything.

Jake was found as an underweight stray with the chest of a bricklayer and the hips of a ballerina. He had terrible arthritis in his back end as well as some neurological impairment that affected his hind-leg reflexes, but with good diet, joint supplements, and weekly chiropractic, he improved exponentially and was always ready to ramble around the neighborhood with me or hop in the car for a road trip. The whole neighborhood knew him. His best dog friend was a Beagle named Junior. When they saw each other from as far as a block away, they would gallop toward each other, dragging their respective Moms behind them, until they met with big smiles and sniffs.

But as time went on, Jake’s body stopped responding to the loving care we gave him. His neurological symptoms worsened. He was officially diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy, a condition in which the myelin sheath that covers the spinal cord slowly erodes, resulting in progressive hind limb weakness and paralysis (think Lou Gehrig’s Disease but in dogs).

As time went on, it became harder and harder to navigate Jake around our two-story house. In an effort to better manage him, Andrew (who could support Jake’s heft more easily than I could) quit his job and started working freelance from home while I went back to full-time employment. Sadly, Jake’s symptoms soon started spreading to his front end. We were first-time homeowners juggling a crazy mortgage, unexpectedly astronomical heating bills, and the expenses that come with a senior pet. We were quoted $700 that we simply didn’t have for a cart for him.

We gave Jake all we could, but it was clear that he was tiring of this world. One evening I had a talk with him. We talked and laughed and cried about how we first met and about all the love and adventures we shared. I told him it was okay for him to leave – and that I would help him – but that I had to know it’s what he wanted; if I sent him away before he was ready, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.

The next day, Andrew called me at work and told me Jake was refusing food and water. We said goodbye 2 days later, the two of us snuggled up at home in his favorite bed with his favorite vet by his side.

Founded in 2014 as Bialy’s Wellness Foundation and recently rebranded as Wild Hearts, this amazing organization assists differently abled pets, funding carts, veterinary care, and rehabilitative therapy. If it had been around when my Jake was diagnosed, I’m convinced we would have been able to give him many more months of love and happiness.

Dogs with DM lose their mobility, and with it, much of their quality of life. Wild Hearts gives back both not just to the afflicted pets but also to the families that love them. Please consider a donation to support this important work.

For more info on Wild Hearts and its mission, please visit https://gowildhearts.org/. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. 

Love, 

Mom and Jake: Best Friends Forever