Lisa Vanderpump’s Dog Pikachu Dies — Her Second Pomeranian to Go to Puppy Heaven in Just Over a Week
Nine days after the death of one of her many dogs, Lisa Vanderpump has lost another member of her menagerie.
The 57-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star posted a touching tribute to her Pomeranian named Pikachu on Instagram Thursday, writing, “Rest in peace my sweet Pikachu, we will miss you so much… Such sadness at your loss 😢.”
Her caption came attached to a gallery of sweet photos of the cream-colored Pikachu through the years that captured him doing everything from playing in the grass of Vanderpump’s California home to hanging on a pilot’s lap in the cockpit of an airplane.
Pikachu, who was nearly 14 years old, was the second Pomeranian of Vanderpump’s brood to die in just over a week.
On September 26, the restauranteur mourned the death of her Pomeranian named Pink Dog. “Rest in peace Pink Dog,” she wrote on Instagram. “We are devastated to see you go so suddenly… you were such a happy pink dog and we will miss you dreadfully, we love you 💕.”
Back in 2013, Vanderpump revealed Pikachu had been hospitalized and diagnosed with Addison’s disease.
According to the American Kennel Club, the condition, which is also known as hypoadrenocorticism occurs when the adrenal gland (a small glad located near the kidney) fails to produce hormones and steroids that help regulate a dog’s internal organs and body systems. Without them, a dog’s body deteriorates — leading to serious complications and even death.
While there is no cure for Addison’s disease, it can be treated with replacement hormone medications, usually one injectable mineralocorticoid and a daily steroid.
Symptoms can include anything from poor appetite and lethargy to vomiting, diarrhea, shaking, and hair loss.
Luckily, Pickachu’s time in the hospital in 2013 appeared to be short-lived.
“[It was] a horrible weekend,” Vanderpump tweeted at the time. “Pikachu was hospitalized and diagnosed with Addison’s disease. VCA hospital was unbelievable! He is back with me tonight.”
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Vanderpump, who is never without her pups, spoke to PEOPLE in March about opening her own rescue dog shelter, Vanderpump Dogs.
“I think opening a rescue center was kind of our idea of reinventing the wheel for the rescue dogs,” Vanderpump said. “I just felt that if we could create a situation where it wasn’t so depressing. People are sometimes slightly reluctant to immerse themselves and go walking into he kill shelters when rescuing dogs. It can be very upsetting.”
“It’s like a puppy palace,” she added. “Everything about it — the chandeliers, the music, we’ve got a lot of great, kind beautiful people who are volunteering, the velvet couches, the coffee tables — everything about it is so different, but yet it feels so right.”
The star has dedicated herself to trying to end the Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China, where they torture, kill and eat dog meat. Vanderpump and her husband, Ken Todd, brought awareness to it and were creating a documentary.
“What we’re trying to do is create more humane treatment for dogs worldwide,” she said. “We are really trying to educate people. It’s ambitious for me to think that I can create change in the world by advocating that people don’t eat dog meat. Everybody has their own fight — this is mine. My fight against Yulin wasn’t so much against the dog meat trade — which I find repulsive — but it was also more about the torture of dogs.”
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