Help Save Nugget the Corgi

My beloved 6 year old corgi Nugget has been diagnosed with severe non-regenerative anemia. After numerous tests, his doctors have narrowed the cause down to either a plasma cell tumor in his spleen (most likely) or an autoimmune disease in his bone marrow. Either way, the recommended treatment is a splenectomy, and because of his severe anemia, he will need a blood transfusion to prepare his body for the surgery.

Nugget is my world. I will do absolutely anything to give him the very best life, and We’re confident that the decision to move forward with the splenectomy will give him the best chance to live a full, healthy life. He brings joy and love to everyone he meets and still has a lot of life to live. His 7th birthday is coming up on April 8 - let’s give him something extra special to celebrate.

Thank you in advance for anything you are able to contribute. Funds raised will go toward his splenectomy, blood transfusion, overnight hospital stay, and recovery. 

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FULL STORY: 

Nugget has always been a snow-eater, but a few weeks ago I noticed he was going at it more than usual. He also started crying to go out to the bathroom more often and his gums were looking a little pale, so I took him to the vet, where he was diagnosed with a UTI. He finished a 10-day round of antibiotics last weekend and was looking good.

A couple days later, he started ravenously eating patches of dirt while we were on walks, which he has never done before. Trying to rationalize it, I thought maybe there was something in the dirt I wasn’t seeing or maybe he was looking for snow. When I noticed his gums looking pale again last Saturday morning, I googled it and realized both of these things were linked to anemia and took him to the emergency vet right away.

After a full day of testing, we learned that Nugget has chronic non-regenerative anemia - his body is losing red and white blood cells and not creating new ones. His blood level was at 19%, and if it dipped any lower, he would need a blood transfusion.

We transferred him to an animal hospital for monitoring and further testing. Unable to find answers in blood tests, x-rays, and an ultrasound, a spleen and bone marrow aspirate was done. Thankfully, Nug’s doctor felt he was stable enough that he was finally able to come home Monday night while we awaited results. Other than the initial symptoms and side effects of the prednisone he was prescribed, he seemed normal.

After 3 agonizing days of waiting, we finallygot the results, which unfortunately weren’t entirely conclusive. Nugget most likely has a plasma cell tumor in his spleen, and a portion of his bone marrow has depleted. We had 2 options - do further testing to confirm the diagnosis or remove the spleen. If it turns out that there isn’t a tumor in his spleen, then this is likely an autoimmune disease, and one of the recommended treatmentswould be to remove the spleen. So either way, a splenectomy is our best course of action. This is actually a fairly common procedure for dogs, but since Nugget is severely anemic, he will need a blood transfusion before the surgery, which makes this more risky.