On Wednesday, July 16, Al and I took Piper to the ER in Portland after she vomited, had diarrhea, and didn’t want to eat. After 8 hours in the ER, they told us that Piper's bloodwork unfortunately came back with scary results showing that her kidneys were not working correctly. She was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. Each day, her bloodwork was not improving. On Friday, July 18, the doctor informed us that they suspected she might have a protein-losing kidney disease, which would only give us a few months to a year left with her. The next day, the doctor told us she probably wouldn’t live until Monday to see a specialist.

She was our lively, happy girl just a few days prior, so on Saturday we packed her in the car and drove immediately back home to Seattle to get a second opinion. The team here did not agree with the diagnosis she received in Portland or the meds she was on, so we decided to fight for our girl. On Sunday, she received a blood transfusion to help profuse more blood through her kidneys. We have spent the last two days working with the internal medicine doctor, who is concerned but cautiously optimistic. As of today, she is eating and more herself, and while we need her bloodwork to improve significantly over the next few days, we are not giving up hope.

While we thankfully have pet insurance, the bills are already over $9,000 (after insurance), and we don’t have an end in sight as of now. Piper is only 6 years old and is otherwise perfectly healthy. She is not in any pain, and we need help to keep her in the hospital and give her kidneys time to heal.

If you’ve been around Al and me, you know how incredibly special Piper is to us. She is our soul dog and we are doing everything we can to try and get her through this. I know times are tough, but even $5 can help make a huge difference.