Meet Ricky. Ricky is a five-month-old Yorkshire terrier mix. He is suspected of having an inherited bleeding disorder. The Arizona Humane Society reached out to rescues to help this little guy, and we picked him up this morning and took him straight to the vet.
We don’t know yet what is causing his bleeding disorder, but what we do know is that he is critically ill, and is currently at one of our emergency vet partners receiving a blood transfusion. This is his 3rd vet visit of the day. We’ve had a difficult time to find the blood he so desperately needs on a Saturday afternoon. His PCV (packed cell volume, a measure of anemia) continues to decrease and is now at 12%. For reference, normal is 35% to 55%.
We could REALLY use your help with his treatment costs.
Update August 27th 2017:
Ricky was doing better this morning after his transfusion, and his temp foster mom was able to take him home.
His PCV was up to 18% this morning. The hospital ran another one before he left and it was at 20%. He’s got lots of platelets so his body is mounting a defense against whatever is going on. He had a slight temp before they started the transfusion last night and he did have a 103° temperature this morning so his foster mom will be monitoring his temperature throughout the day.
He’s on doxycycline because we can’t completely rule out tick fever. That could be the cause of the temperature, or it could be from the transfusion. Usually after a transfusion it would start going down though and so far it hasn’t.
The doctor said that whatever is going on with him he’s been fighting probably his entire short life, and his body has compensated for it. He does have black tarry stools which tells us he has a potential upper G.I. bleed although all xrays and ultrasound so far have been negative. The blood that he’s losing has to be going somewhere! He’s on some other medications to help keep his appetite up as he really wasn’t eating very well, which was probably due to the anemia. They said this morning he was eating like a champ.
He will go to Bethany Animal Hospital in the am to see where his PCV is at and go from there. We will be sending blood out to Cornell to try and get a diagnosis. So far he’s seen several vets and no one has an official diagnosis. He will also likely still need a whole blood transfusion (what he got last night was packed red blood cells).
Ricky is a fighter and we intent to give him every chance at a long and normal life.
Ricky’s bills so far have topped $2,000 and we aren’t even close to being done with diagnostics and treatments and could really use your help.
Thank you to Dr. Katie Andre for always answering our calls when we need you. Thank you to Alissa Arredondo Schoenlank for being such a champ and running all around with Ricky yesterday. Thank you to Dr. Jang at Alta Vista Veterinary Hospital for fitting Ricky in yesterday. Thank you to Dr. Giffords for the consult! And last but not least, thank you to Dr. Velasquez at BluePearl Veterinary Partners – Phoenix, AZ for taking such great care of Ricky during his stay. We truly appreciate each and every one of your for making this happen for him yesterday!!! 
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Continued good thoughts and prayers for Ricky are so appreciated! 
❤️
Update September 22nd 2017:
Well, the good people at MAIN received my lab report from Cornell University. It says I have something that’s called Hemophilia B and that’s why I have problems with bleeding.
This means it’s going to take a very special family to adopt me when I’m ready. When I have my surgery to be neutered I will have to have a blood transfusion first. When that time comes I would like it so much if my friends could donate some money to MAIN. They saved my life, and this transfusion thing costs a lot of money (and I already had one of those, the day I was rescued!). You would never know to look at me that I have this really yucky disease. 🐾
More information on Hemophilia B here https://ahdc.vet.cornell.edu/sects/coag/test/faqhemo.cfm.
The extra sad part of all of this is that because Hemophilia B is a sex-linked, recessive trait, Ricky’s mom, wherever she is, is a carrier. I doubt he came from a reputable breeder since a truly reputable breeder will test their dogs for genetic issues before they are bred. So Ricky likely has siblings out there that also have Hemophilia B (males) or are carriers (females). 
💔
