Famous Social Media Dog 'Woofy' Sadly Passes Away After Battle with IHMA
A beloved TikTok star has sadly passed away after batting a serious auto-immune disease. Woofy (Also known as Woofay) a little Cocker Spaniel and French Bulldog mix with over 508,000 followers on TikTok passed away earlier this week according to her owner, Jenna Ferraro.
Woofy was six-years old and her owner had to make the heartbreaking decision to put her down after her veterinarian found fluid in the little pup's lungs.
View the original article to see embedded media.
Woofy's owner made the sad update on Instagram, posting, "My baby girl,you were and always will be everything to me. I don't wish this feeling upon anyone. You were so SO loved, I hope you know I gave you everything I had. You've made people happy around the entire world- your time was cut short, but you were a legacy. I love you always chicky mug."
People Magazine shared the following heartbreaking exclusive in an interview with Woofy's owner, Jenna Ferraro.
"We put her down while she was in my arms,” Ferraro tells PEOPLE. “Her favorite thing to do was go ‘sleepy on the couch with mommy’ and we’d take a nap together for hours.”
“The doctor gave me a blanket and I wrapped her up and I was holding her. She side-eyed the doctor like she was annoyed someone else was looking at her. But I told her to look at me and I said ‘We're going sleepy on the couch with mommy,’ and she looked me in the eyes, almost like she was saying ‘thank you,’ and that was it.”
Related: 'Connie the Container Dog' Sadly Passes Away After Unexpected Medical Complication
On July 2, when Woofy was in the hospital, her owner had set up a GoFundMe for the dog's vet bills, raising over $31,000 dollars. Now that Woofy has sadly passed, her owner posted, "I also wanted to add that I am in the process of creating a charity/foundation in Woofy's name, that will further help those who need financial help when unexpected events happen. I am forever grateful for my platform, not everyone in this position had the outlet I had while going through this time. I want to give back all the help I received. I will be keeping this link up while researching and figuring out how to start this up. Any left over donations after bills have been paid, will be towards creating the foundation/putting money into it."
Our hearts go out to Woofy's family during this heartbreaking time.
What is IHMA?
Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock
Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia is a disease where the body's immune system destroys its own red blood cells. This often leads to severe anaemia and poor oxygen delivery to multiple organs such as the kidneys, liver, brain, etc. Both dogs and cats are affected by this condition.
The article explains that IMHA in dogs and cats can be triggered by different factors including infectious organisms, tumors and even drugs. This disease is treated with steroids and sometimes blood transfusions to replace red blood cells.
In recent years there has been some research into new drugs and massive improvement in the care and monitoring of these patients.