He has reached a grand old age, despite some very serious illnesses. And he has lived a very full life, rising above the odds to succeed.
As a Papillon, he could have rested on his good looks and been simply decorative. But to show off his intelligence he was also a competitor at both Agility and Hoopers.
If you are not familiar with Hoopers, it is an inclusive low impact sport involving the dog attempting a course of obstacles, guided by their handler from a distance. It requires a high level of training and understanding between the two, and is an especially good canine sport both for people who prefer not to run, and dogs who prefer not to jump.
Pippin was enjoying a particularly good period of form in his competitions when a new problem appeared. He was experiencing occasional episodes of feeling weak and wobbly. They would only last for short periods, and improved if he ate something.
One day he went out to compete, did four rounds, won four first prizes in the senior competition, then two days later he was refusing his walkies. Yet when I examined him he was back to normal.
We considered many possibilities, including that he had pulled a muscle. We ran blood tests, and urine samples, but nothing showed up.
But his owner knew him well enough to be certain that he needed help, so we referred him. This was when he was discovered to have a highly malignant tumour of his pancreas. This is incredibly rare, and was resulting in bursts of inappropriate insulin production, causing his blood glucose to plummet without warning.
The pancreas is not an organ that appreciates being touched, let alone being operated on. But the only way to help Pippin was to remove the malignancy.
Courageously, he went for the surgery, and has been remarkably normal for over three years since. We consider this nothing short of a miracle.
He is well over sixteen years old, and retired from competitions. But he still enjoys zoomies and running on the beach.
