I can’t say that I’ve done many things the “right way” throughout my life, but I’d challenge anyone to find someone that’s better to their dogs than I am. For the last seven years Sonic has been my number one priority, followed closely by his sister Vada. I’ve always made sure they get their exercise (minimum four miles per day). I’ve always given them the best foods I could afford, and was hyper vigilant against anything they shouldn’t have. I’ve tried to live my life with the motivation of giving them the best lives I could.

Despite my best efforts, we’ve hit a pretty big bump in the road.

Sonic started to slow down about four months ago. It was slow at first, but quickly progressed to the point that he had lost all of his energy, and started retaining fluids. By the time I was able to get him to the vet, he was barely even able to get up and go for small walks.

My current Vet has done everything they're able to, and now it's time to look into a specialist.

Something is wrong with his kidneys. He has proteinuria, losing protein through his kidneys. We haven't yet figured out the why, or the what. The vet put him on a couple of medications, which have helped and slowed to progression of whatever this is. The last week, however, it seems they're not working as well, as he has slowed down quite a bit again.

Tomorrow morning we go to UPenn to see a specialist. The hope is that they can run more tests, and try to discover what it is that's causing this problem, and whether or not there's more that can be done to help him.

I've never been one to ask for help, and doing this makes me pretty uncomfortable, but I can't give him the help he needs, and he deserves a fighting chance to beat whatever this is that's affecting him.

Anything you can donate will go directly toward his care and treatment.

I may not feel like I deserve your help, but he definitely does.

Please and Thank you for any help.