Hi all,

My name is Steph and my soul dog Aili (pronounced eye-lee) has been in the UW ICU since Thursday, May 15th. She had an appointment scheduled that morning for tongue and rectal biopsies, and an abdominal ultrasound to aid the search in a two month long unsolved illness. Due to the events of that morning, including shaking, jaundice, and vomiting, my primary vet recommended an immediate visit to the UW Vet Emergency Room due to the state of her liver. Once we arrived and the vets ran tests, I was informed she would need to be admitted to the ICU for acute liver injury.

The road leading up to this point has been long. It began in early March at Aili’s yearly wellness exam where I inquired about a dental cleaning and mentioned that Aili was having difficulty jumping. We scheduled the dental for a few weeks out where she ended up with four extractions. The healing process felt strange and Aili’s personality seemed dulled. At our two week follow up to check oral healing (free of charge), I had to mention my increasing worry about Aili’s difficulty to jump and a new itchy/swollen right eye (not free). Dr. Nacewicz at Spring Harbor Animal Hospital was instantly concerned, and requested I try to get videos showing how Aili struggled. Every few days new symptoms began appearing including tongue ulcers, rectal ulcers, and progressive muscle wasting bilaterally in her hind legs. Dr. N sent a referral to UW Neuro where I made an appointment for the soonest slot three weeks away. At that point, with increasing worry about Aili’s situation, she recommended I take her to the ER so she would be consulted by Neuro faster. They ended up testing Aili for Myasthenia Gravis, an immune-mediated, neuromuscular, degenerative disease. The antibody test takes 2-3 weeks for results, so we were sent home. The coming days became increasingly difficult. I am a single person who lives alone with a full-time job and commute to graduate school part-time. Aili’s care was extremely important to me, but it became nearly impossible to manage her constant care or runs to the vet for more testing. She was barely able to stand, needed support to go potty, had extreme thigh muscle atrophy and tremors, stopped eating and drinking, and eventually turned yellow - all without a single answer.

Her admittance to the ICU was ill timed before the weekend, where most testing abilities pause until Monday. She is in supportive care with an NG tube for nutrient supplementation, and a jugular IV for plasma transfusions. Tomorrow, May 20th, they will run a full body CT scan, and perform both a tongue (oral ulcers) and muscle biopsy all under anesthesia. Her Myasthenia Gravis test came back negative, but Neuro still wants to push this idea with some more testing. We are waiting for results of Blastomycosis as well as Leptospirosis (which she is vaccinated for). At this point we have tested negative for Myasthenia Gravis, all of Dx 40, Atypical Addison’s, Pneumonia, liver aspirate, Neosporosis, and Toxoplasmosis.

Aili does not currently have a date set to be discharged. With the challenges we have been through the last two months in our search for an answer, it has been emotionally, physically, and financially taxing. Despite the difficulty I have in asking for help, the support would be directly going to Aili’s vet bills that are currently accruing to keep her alive.

It would mean so much to me to be with Aili outside again where she reminds me the world is much bigger than my thoughts, and where we have a unified reconnection to our purpose here together.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading Aili’s journey and supporting us in every way possible. Neither of us could do it alone.

Updates soon,

Steph