Prince

About the Campaign

Prince is an 11-week-old blue nose Pit Bull puppy, 8 pounds, with a grade 5 out of 6 heart murmur and blood oxygen at 86 percent, well below normal. His heart is not pumping efficiently, and fluid is backing up into his lungs and abdomen. He struggles to breathe at night and is on Lasix twice a day to pull the fluid off. His vet believes he was born with a heart defect, most likely a PDA, and has referred him to a veterinary cardiologist. He is seeing the specialist this weekend for an EKG and further testing, and then surgery.

PDA stands for patent ductus arteriosus. It often presents as a heart murmur, but is something different: Before birth, puppies have a small vessel that lets blood bypass the lungs, since they are not breathing yet. It is supposed to seal shut in the first days of life. When it stays open, blood keeps shunting into the lungs with every heartbeat, the heart works overtime, and the puppy goes into heart failure. Left alone, most dogs with a PDA die within their first year. Closed surgically while the puppy is young, the outcome is usually excellent and the dog lives a normal life. The cardiologist will confirm the diagnosis and the plan.

Dominique noticed something was wrong about a week ago when Prince started throwing up and nothing explained it. At the vet on September 15, a fecal test was negative and parvo was ruled out, but during the physical exam the vet heard the murmur. Prince still looks like a happy puppy, which is part of what makes it hard. His vet has been direct that a murmur this loud is life-threatening.

Prince came from a litter that a friend of Dominique’s boyfriend had. She and her boyfriend Patrick had been looking for a dog for about a year. Patrick took one puppy, then wanted a girl, and now they have three: Blue, Ivy, and Prince, for a $30 rehoming fee each. Dominique picked Prince at five weeks old for how he looked and says she knew right away he was her baby. He has to be kept separate from his siblings now so he does not overexert himself.

Dominique works in door-to-door sales as a project manager for a roofing and home restoration company and also does political canvassing. Patrick drives a truck locally. She has lost both of her parents in recent years and is still carrying bills from that, plus an $850 monthly car note, and Patrick covers the household. The local vet’s estimate for the EKG and bloodwork alone was about $787, and the surgery will be several thousand on top of that. They do not have it.

The good news about a PDA is that it is one of the few heart problems in dogs that surgery can cure outright. Donations will cover Prince’s cardiology consultation, EKG, echocardiogram, bloodwork, chest x-rays, heart medication, and the surgery to close the defect. All donations are paid only to the veterinarian. Estimate below, click to enlarge: