Help Save Miss Winnie

Hello family, friends, and kind-hearted strangers!

We are Catherine and Michael and Winnie is our fur baby. She is a 9-month-old pitbull/husky mix and the sweetest girl you could ever hope to meet. Winnie has been happy, healthy, and full of life in the four months she has been ours - until recently, when we came home from a trip to Colorado to see our family. She was very lethargic and sleepy in Colorado, which we at first attributed to altitude sickness and road trip stress. But then, after a few days at home in California, there was not much change in her and that concerned us. One morning we saw what we thought was blood in her urine. Michael rushed her to an emergency vet and they diagnosed her with a UTI and put her on antibiotics. There was not much change in her lethargic behavior after treatment, however, and we moved her follow-up visit with the vet from Friday to Monday. Little did we know that that saved her life. When she arrived at the vet on Monday they discovered she was extremely anemic with a critically low hematocrit level - 17. We were told that 35 is baseline anemic, and 10 would have been potentially deadly. We were told she likely has an autoimmune disorder called IMHA (immune-mediated hemolytic anemia). After Winnie received a blood transfusion her hematocrit level went up, and she came home happy and full of life in a way that made us emotional because it seemed like she was returning to her old playful self. She returned to the vet for the rest of the week, and each day it appeared that she was doing a bit better and her hematocrit levels were inching higher. Her voracious appetite was back, she was going for longer walks again, and more playful too. It appeared that she was on the road to recovery and that her body and immune system was beginning to repair itself. Then on Saturday morning we received a call from the vet that her hematocrit levels had dropped again and so had her red blood cell count. He recommended bringing her in around noon. Even though they were technically closed on weekends, he didn’t want to risk not seeing her if anything were to happen. On her way out the door for a walk on Saturday morning, Winnie collapsed at the door and peed everywhere. We called the vet and he recommended we bring her in to an emergency vet specialist immediately, and they are currently running extensive tests to figure out what exactly the cause of Winnie’s ailment is. If she has IMHA, then it’s unlike other cases due to the way her body has responded to treatment. But if it’s something else that is more chronic, she may require lifelong medication and care that may be beyond our financial capabilities, especially since she is so young (which is another quality of her case that makes it bizarre).

We have started this fundraiser to help offset the cost of Winnie’s emergency vet visits and blood transfusions. We are still awaiting results that will determine our next steps and what Winnie’s future will look like. But any little bit you feel moved to give would help offset the financial burden on our little family and we would be incredibly grateful for your support.

Best wishes and love,

Catherine, Michael, and Winnie

Update - December 19, 2022

Winnie received her second blood transfusion on Saturday night and has been stable since. Her red blood cell count got up from 18% (when we brought her in) to 30% in around 24 hours. We were allowed to pick her up last night and bring her home. She was so much more energetic and playful! She is on 4 different medications currently, 2 of which she was already on and her doctors upped her doses. She still needs to receive an abdominal ultrasound this week to rule out other potential causes for her anemia but it looks like she has IMHA and regenerative anemia. We are still very cautious because her condition is still tentative. She could do well for a couple of days and then drip dramatically again, or she could be on the slow and steady road to recovery. The next week is crucial for her. But we are SO grateful for everyone’s generosity and outpouring of love for us and for Winnie. I am not exaggerating when I say folks’ generosity very well could save her life by giving us the chance to get ahead of her big vet bills. We are not out of the woods yet by any means, but still — thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for all you’ve done for us so far. ❤️ please keep sharing and donating as much as you can!