Nicky is a 11-year-old Beagle Terrier Mix in Princeton, NJ, who needs $2,000 for IVDD Surgery.

My wife and I rescued Nicky in May 2011 when he was 5months old. He has trekked across different states with us, traveled with us cross country, and a loving family member during our daughters birth in 2014. Nicky is a lover. All you have to do is feed him and rub his belly and he will be your best friend. The only thing to fear from Nicky is that he might lick you to death :-()~

Nicky sleeps in our bedroom and often times barks at us in the middle of the night to complain he should be on our bed - and we comply. Nicky loves going for long walks as he's always on the hunt tracing smells and leaving his mark. Every night when we eat dinner, especially lamb, he always barks at us - He's a greek dog alright! Then he barks to reveal my daughter's "hide and seek" spot.

Nicky is a hyper dog with plenty of life in him. He often thinks he's bigger and stronger than he really is, always flocks to the bigger dog parks and often chews off more than he can handle (pun intended). He loves the snow (unfortunately how he slipped his disc) and needs to be active. He is afraid of thunder, he can stare at a bug on the wall for hours in a day and give us plenty of kisses.

Nicky lost most of his feeling in his hind legs after trotting through the snow last weekend. The MRI revealed a herniated disc compressing on his spinal cord,explaining why he couldn't pee for 24 hrs at a time. The prognosis was good in that the surgery was straight forward and that Nicky has high likeliness of walking again with good quality of life. Red Bank Vet Hospital in Tinton Falls NJ

Unexpected major expense that came at a terrible time. The all-in costs is ~$14k and had to apply for care credit. Fortunately we were approved but now halts our plan to buy our starter home. We chose our pet's quality of life over our own and didn't think twice.