Saying goodbye to Piper...

Memorial Day Monday

It has not been a good week to be a dog.

On Friday, my mom’s dog, Piper, had to be rushed to the Emergency Vet. She had been fine on Memorial Day, and spent most of the afternoon swimming in the pool and playing fetch. The subsequent days found her a little slow and tired, but my mom figured it was because she played so hard over the holiday weekend and her ten year old body needed some time to recover.

Then she stopped eating.

By 4 AM on Friday morning, Piper was so weak she could barely stand. And the decision was made to take her to the emergency clinic in Mansfield.


At first, the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. They did tests to rule out cancer/tumors, organ failure, etc. Nothing seemed to fit. That is, until her blood work came back and her red blood count was hovering around 11 (normal levels are in the upper 30s). The diagnosis: Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA).

IMHA is basically when the immune system starts to attack the body’s red blood cells. The only way to counteract the disease is to suppress the body’s immune system. But before that could happen, the vet needed to immediately transfuse Piper’s blood to get her red blood count back up. The first transfusion took place on Friday, and Piper’s blood count made it all the way to 21 and held steady for a little more than 24 hours.


We went out to see her on Saturday after the Skeet Shoot For Charity, and were hoping to see at least a hint of good, ole’ playful Piper. Sadly, we were disappointed. She was so weak, she could barely stand. And badly jaundiced on the insides of her ears, gums and whites of her eyes. We didn’t even get a tail thump. Later that evening, we learned that her red blood levels had dropped back to 17.

Sunday, we were encouraged. Despite her levels dropping back to 15, Piper felt well enough to try to eat. We took this as a sign that she was fighting.

They tried another transfusion Monday, and Piper’s red blood cell levels jumped all the way up to 31. Things were really starting to look up, but then, yesterday, Piper suffered a stroke around 8 PM. My mom was called, and rushed to the vet around 9:30. Piper was near death and in a lot of pain. Not wanting her to suffer, Piper was humanely euthanized around 10 last night. She had a tennis ball by her side.

What a difference a week can make.

Good girl, Piper. Good girl.

***

In other news, Gypsy is still sporting the head bandage. She spent yesterday at the vet undergoing a series of tests. The protein levels in her blood are very low, and no one understands why. There is also something wrong with her urine, and they’ve requested an additional test of “first morning pee”. Originally, I was supposed to collect it with a soup ladle (the vet’s suggested method). But then the vet requested that Gypsy spend yet another day at the vet tomorrow, so the plan is now to feed her, not let her outside and take her to the vet “fully loaded” first thing tomorrow.

And, yes. Gypsy (to quote Phil) still looks like she, “got halfway through putting on their mummy costume and then ran full speed through a throw pillow.” Her bandage has to be changed every 48 to 72 hours, and has to be so tight around her neck/lower jaw that the poor thing sounds like a bulldog when she breathes. At night, if by some miracle Trevor isn't snoring, Gypsy IS.

So, yeah. It has been a bad week.