Help Pickle get X-rays and Referral to specialist — LUDLOW, MA

This is Pickle. He's the biggest goofball I know.

I fostered him from Dakin Humane Society when he was two months old. I was supposed to give him back. I didn't stand a chance. He talked his way into my heart, literally. He chats at me constantly, chirps and grumbles like he's telling me about his day. He's a champion snuggler, who thinks every human he meets owes him something.

About four months ago I noticed him limping. He's always carried himself a little off to one side, and I think an old injury made his hips and knees, already not quite right, get worse over time. Dakin Animal Services has been his vet since the day he came in as a puppy, and they're the ones helping me figure out what's actually going on.

Pickle has been one of the few reasons I get out of bed some mornings. He grounds me. There's something in the way he looks at me that feels less like a pet and more like an old friend who found his way back to me.

The road ahead likely includes more imaging, more testing, and possibly surgery. I don't know the full number yet, but I know it's more than I can carry alone.

I'm a mom of two, and I live with chronic illness that already stretches what I can do and what I can pay for.