Lacy is a 12 week old chow mix puppy that has a heart defect. The diagnosis is a PDA (patent ductus arterioles), murmur, grade 5. Patent ductus arteriosus is a congenital heart defect wherein a dog's ductus arteriosus fails to close after birth. It's a hole that is normally open when the puppy is unborn, but is supposed to close at birth to allow the blood to circulate through the lungs to be oxygenated.
This sweet adorable puppy is now having symptoms of congestive heart failure and will be going into surgery this afternoon or she will not live much longer. This is not something we would normally do. This sweet girl has stolen the hearts of everyone she meets and now we feel like we need to step in or she will die without it.
Sweet Lacy was adopted from the Greenville Humane Society. When the new owner realized she had a problem they immediately brought her back. They thought she had an upper respiratory problem. It was later determined she has a PDA. She could not go back on the adoption floor and therefore ended up in the shelter. If we didn’t do her surgery she was going to be euthanized. Her condition is treatable with surgery. After her recovery she will be good as new just like any other playful puppy. We realize a lot of people might not agree with our decision to do the surgery but we thought it was the right thing to do and we hope you will support our decision.
Lacy UPDATE for January 29, 2009
She underwent 2 hours of surgery yesterday. What should have been pretty straight forward became a lot more complicated when they realized the area they were going to repair had tough tissue that had started to form around it. It became a more very delicate procedure than it was going to be. she is up and bouncing around this just like a normal puppy. We already have a forever home for our sweet Lacy that works at UVS where the surgery was done. she will be coming into work every day with her to make sure she doesn’t have any complications. She will be at the hospital for several more day in their intensive care area to make sure all is going well.
Update for February 1, 2009
Lacy is doing wonderful. Aside from the fact that she has a hugh incision down her side she is just like every other playful puppy. She is on restricted exercise for two weeks and then she can get back to being a normal energetic puppy.
February 24, 2009
Lacy has recovered wonderfully. Her staples were removed and the Doctor said she is good to go with no sound of a heart murmur. She has just starting losing her baby teeth and is growing like a weed full of energy.
