Misha, our tough cookie of a Yorkie fur-baby developed pyometra, an infection of the uterus, without showing any obvious symptoms. Just a month prior she went in for a tumor removal surgery & exhibited no symptoms of any other problems. She never exhibited any discomfort or pain, just as playful and purr-ful as ever (yes, she purrs despite being a Yorkie!).

On May the 5th, what should have been just another Monday morning we found our little fur-baby Misha shivering a little and tired. She was lively and happy two nights prior to the point of jumping from sofa to sofa like a mountain goat. We took Misha to her doctor & got her medication to try. Tuesday morning 6am, she was ok; three hours later she was suddenly shivering, lethargic and in pain. Her doctor called for an update, we told her the symptoms & was urged to rush her in for a check up; results were that she needed surgery to remove her uterus. That was fine until the doctor opened her up to find that her uterus had already burst and flooded her abdomen with infectious bacteria laden fluids. Her uterus had a necrotic section that spread outwards to her intestines; probably started many weeks ago, no symptoms, didn't show on x-rays. She was also diagnosed with Sepsis, a systemic body-wide infection running throughout her bloodstream.

We were devastated to find out she might not survive & her doctor urged us to rush Misha to another emergency 24-hour pet hospital straight to the ICU. She was perfectly normal and playful three days ago!

The diagnosis at the emergency vet was pure horror, with the doctor warning us she may not make it through the night. Even if she made it, Misha needed urgent surgery again as soon as they could stabilize her vitals; her vitals were so bad they couldn't even proceed on the day.

They somehow managed to bring Misha's vital barely out of critical condition, but far from stable over two days and nights. But at this point her body wasn't able to support itself due to the overwhelming amount of bacteria in her blood. Everything was hinging on her IV with additional glucose, plasma and antibiotics. We were told that if she were to survive, our best bet was to have her undergo a second surgery as soon as she was past the absolute minimum for vitals allowed for surgery, otherwise she probably won't make it. On the third day her vitals passed the minimum threshold for an emergency surgery & they opened her up, thoroughly cleaned up her insides & removed any dead/necrotic tissue remaining to reduce the burden on her body. We were fortunate the necrosis did not spread beyond the fatty layer of her intestines & uterus stump.

The second surgery estimate was a tear-inducing, jaw-dropping $26,474.62, and a warning that her chances of making it through the procedure was at best 50/50 given her situation and vitals. On top of the $9,560.60 from her initial admission for two nights ICU stay, $800 for the plasma, $1537.31 from the initial uterus removal and $1157.48 from the initial check-up. Unfortunately we live in Southern California and living here is expensive. It was either pay and take a risk, or leave her in a state where her body could not even support itself any more.

Of course we chose to take a chance at saving our fur-baby's life!

After a heart and gut-wrenching 5 hour wait we were informed that Misha made it safely out of surgery. She recovered from the anesthesia at night and was alert enough for a visit from us the next day. Our little tough cookie Misha made it through this ordeal, for now.

At the time of this campaign's launch Misha is still far from being out of danger. Her body has just started recovering or at least enough to reduce the glucose IV, and discontinue the plasma IV. She is still at risk with a potential for relapse until the infection is completely purged, after two emergency surgeries in three days all the while being septic and a low body weight of 5 pounds.

Our current medical fees are at a tear-inducing $39,530.01. And that's assuming nothing else goes wrong afterwards, no follow-ups are needed and no extensions to her stay.

We would like to ask for help and to share/spread Misha's GoFundMe.

We will use your donations to help pay for Misha's medical bills.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, even if it is just best wishes. Thank you very much from the bottom of our hearts!

Regardless of whether donations were given or not, we are sincerely thankful to everyone that has given Misha their support and best wishes.

Misha's co-owner Nikkie runs Misha's Instagram profile. If anyone is interested in seeing more photos of our adorable Misha, please do check her out over at her Instagram account!

Our cute little tough cookie Misha has been fighting for her life.

She did not give up, and nor will we.