Hi, we're Mel & Seth. Our sweet, 7 year old mini aussie Pippin suffered an unexpected and unexplained medical crisis on Jan 15. He was admitted to MSU Veterinary ICU very near death. Doctors worked hard to stabilize his vitals and began tests to determine the cause. We are so grateful for their diligent care and are lucky he's alive.

When he first arrived, he was in a comatose state. He had a blood pressure so low it was almost undetectable, rapid heart rate, and low blood sugar. There was swelling throughout his abdomen with free-floating fluid and evident inflammation on multiple abdominal organs. He went into shock and it took days for his body to recover.

Dr. Lukasiewicz was the doctor on call who stabilized Pippin when he arrived. It was really difficult work and he acted quickly and decisively to save Pippin's life. We are forever grateful to him! Pippin required a feeding tube, a main line IV into his jugular vein as well as secondary IVs in his legs. He's received IV fluids to to treat dehydration. He had to get medication to stabilize his blood pressure plus an anti-arrhythmic. To further fight de-hydration he was on both an anti-nausea and anti-vomiting medication.

Additionally he's received treatments to help get his platelet and red blood cell levels up. Throughout his stay he has had platelet levels below 30k which put him at risk for spontaneous bleeding. He suffered GI bleeding for over a week which required many transfusions of platelets, plasma, and blood. We are grateful for the dogs who have donated blood and to their owners.

So far tests have not found the cause, but we're waiting on a few more results. It's been difficult for doctors to determine if their medical findings are are secondary as a result of the wide-spread inflammation and his body going into shock or if their findings are the primary culprit that caused his initial collapse.

Pippin has been under the care of many excellent doctors during his stay: Dr. Lukasiewicz, Dr. Beal, Dr. Levy, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Kittrell, and others who have been collaborating with his assigned veterinarian to help solve the mystery of what caused his collapse and near death. Specialties include oncology, cardiology, neurology, internal medicine, radiology, microbiology, and blood pathology.

All of this intense care of our sweet Pippy-Pie has resulted in a very high medical bill. We are asking for your help to cover half of the current total. We did all we could to give him time to recover and get testing and diagnostics performed to determine the cause. He's fought hard and is returning back home on Feb 2! His dog sister Hildi and his human toddler brother are eager to have him back home.

Anything you're willing to donate would be extremely helpful to our family. Thanks for keeping us on your minds and hearts as we get through this difficult time.

If you are unable to contribute financially and have a dog who qualifies, please consider having them donate blood product to help save lives.