On September 25, 2017, Hearts of Hope took in 6 dogs from a shelter in Florida. They were moved out of the shelter there to make room for dogs displaced by Hurricane Irma. Chip was one of these dogs and he made the trip to Michigan at 4 weeks old with his mom, brother, and sister. As the puppies grew we quickly realized Chip wasn't developing the same way as his siblings. He had as much (or more!) personality as the other puppies, but at 10 weeks he was 1/3 the size of them and only weighed about 1.5 pounds. Because of his size and age Chip couldn't have blood work done until January. When the blood work came back it showed abnormal liver and kidney function. A bile acid test was done to look for the possibility of a liver shunt and came back abnormal. Then Chip was off to yet another vet to have an ultrasound done to look for a liver shunt. The ultrasound showed some liver abnormalities, but far more concerning was the fact that one of his kidneys was very small and the other was covered in cysts. The vet said the larger kidney looked like what we'd expect to see in a 14 year old dog with kidney disease.
At this point, Chip’s prognosis from the multiple vets he has seen is very guarded. He seems to be doing well most of the time, but we know he cannot function this way long term with his kidneys and liver in this condition. For now, we are keeping Chip in the rescue so we can be sure he is provided with the care he needs and he can live comfortably with the foster family he has known since he was 4 weeks old. Chip has his own Facebook page "The Adventures of Chip" https://www.facebook.com/chipthecharmingchi/ and Instagram @chipthecharmingchi where you can follow Chip's day to day activities. He is quite the character. Please consider making a purchase to help us give Chip the best care possible. Thank you!