Help Ruby Fight the Complications from Leptospirosis

We didn't ever imagine creating one of these. Honestly, these past few days, we've gone back and forth about whether we even felt comfortable doing so.

Our sweet Ruby girl is very sick. The suddenness of this spiral has rocked us to our core. After days of testing and treatment, we learned definitively this weekend that Ruby has Leptospirosis, which is a rare bacterial disease. It has been unbelievable to watch this all unfold.

After receiving wonderful care from our local vet, Hamilton Animal Care, we had a conversation about Ruby's treatment, and that if she needed the next steps in care for her situation, we should really go to the UPenn Vet Hospital ER in Philadelphia. We transferred her in the evening of Friday the 10th.

In the time since, she has undergone 3 hemodialysis treatments to filter her blood and give her kidneys a chance to heal. She isn't eating yet (very out of character for her) and has had a feeding tube installed through her nose, but sneezed it out twice in defiance, so she is lacking nutrients big time. The treatment plan is still ongoing, and the amazing doctors at UPenn; Dr. De Rosa, Dr. Javeed, Dr. Weiss, and Dr. Hildebrand are doing their best to give our girl her best chance at recovery. She has so much life to live, is not in pain, and enjoys trotting down the hallways of the ICU and making friends with all the clinicians and technicians.

Ollie, her brother, littermate and parter in crime, is noticeably subdued. It seems that he's feeling Ruby's absence. They are a bonded pair that we rescued in 2018, and they have never been apart.

If you know us well, you know we are unapologetically proud "fur parents", and it breaks our heart to see Ollie slowly get more anxious each day she's been out of the house. We want to give her the time she needs to recover with the best care, but we have approached a breaking point in the budget. Anyone who has ever met Ruby and spent time with her knows that she is the biggest love bug there is. There hasn't been a friend or family member that hasn't fallen in love with her as she instantly becomes their new lap dog or cuddle buddy, and we would love to keep fighting to give her the absolute best chance. Any help that you can spare would go a long way. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much, for good vibes, positive thoughts, or a donation.

-Mark, Alli, Ollie and Ruby