About Us

We brought Nicky home in the fall of 2003. On the ride home I could barely contain my excitement, and neither could Nicky as she made her way out of her doggie box and onto my lap. We named her Nicky after St. Nicholas. She was an early Christmas present and was so tiny she literally fit in the palm of our hands. Nicky grew up to be a smart, loving and spunky dog, with a Corgi attitude. She would always greet you at the door with a wagging tail and a bark or two. She brought our family endless days of joy and happiness over the 12 and half years of her life.

When she was ten years old, she saw the veterinarian for a routine visit and our entire life changed… he discovered a mass in her neck. We went on to get a biopsy and she was found to have thyroid cancer. We were devastated by the news but knew we wanted to provide her the best treatment possible. After consulting with an oncologist at the Blue Pearl hospital in Tampa, Nicky’s next course of treatment was an extensive surgery to remove the cancer in her thyroid. We traveled to the University of Florida to their small animal specialty hospital to find the care she needed. She successfully got through the surgery and was returning to the spunky and loving Nicky we always knew. Unfortunately, she was having trouble keeping the calcium levels in her body stable which we knew would be a side effect of the surgery. Her calcium levels would either be too high or too low, leading to many other symptoms. It took several months of back and forth trips to Blue Pearl Hospital and endless blood draws on those visits to figure out the correct dosing of her calcium medications. Our hearts broke for her through all those painful blood draws, but she stayed strong throughout.

Very early in the morning about a year and a half after her surgery, Nicky suffered a seizure. We rushed her down to Blue Pearl where she was admitted. The next day when the neurologist examined her she suffered another seizure. They found out Nicky had undiagnosed malignant high blood pressure. She was then put on additional medications (totaling 5 at this point). Luckily Nicky did not suffer any further seizures but months later she took a turn for the worse. Eating became difficult, her legs became weak and she started shutting down neurologically. We went back to Blue Pearl and the veterinarian gave us a difficult decision to make. Deciding whether to insert a feeding tube in her belly or letting her go. It was a hard decision to make and we went through a lot of tears and back and forth but ultimately, we had to think of what was best for Nicky. The next day we decided to take her home and have home hospice come and let her go peacefully in our arms. A few days after she passed there was a rain shower as we were driving, and a full rainbow emerged in front of us. We knew Nicky was reaching out and telling us she was alright. We still think about Nicky all the time and will always carry her in our hearts forever.

The costs of Nicky’s care was astronomical, but the alternative of not providing that care was devastating. We were blessed to be able to give her the life prolonging care she needed until it was time for her to go home. We could not imagine withholding that life prolonging care from our beloved family member that had brought us so many years of joy.

Nicky’s Angels Foundation was started to help other loving animals, like our Nicky, obtain the life prolonging care they need. We do this in hopes of repaying these animals for the years of true selfless love and dedication they have given their owners without ever asking for anything in return.