Poppy Needs Your Help
Poppy is a darling, 8 week old, under 3 lb, puppy with a heart defect known as PDA, that can be fixed with surgery. Without surgery, her life expectancy will be very short, but assuming she makes it through surgery, she has an excellent prognosis for a normal life. She is scheduled for surgery at Cornell University in the coming weeks and we are asking for your help so that we can fund this life-saving surgery for her! No gift is too small and we will all be appreciative for whatever assistance you can provide.
Poppy was born with a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Normally the ductus arteriosus, an important blood vessel, shunts blood from the heart and bypasses the lungs when puppies are in the uterus before birth – they don’t need to breath, so there’s no need for blood to go to the lungs. At birth, this blood vessel normally closes, so that oxygenated blood reaches the lungs and then is circulated to the rest of the body, providing oxygen rich blood to important tissues. If the ductus doesn’t close properly, the heart has to work extra hard to pump oxygenated blood to these important tissues. Eventually, the heart muscle becomes thickened from working so hard and, in time, the heart muscle weakens and heart failure and death results.
Poppy already, at only 8 weeks of age, has evidence that her heart muscle is thickened. With prompt surgery, her heart can repair itself before the damage is permanent, but there isn’t much time.
If you would like to donate to Poppy’s surgery and care, please visit our donate page http://www.cavalieralliance.org/donate/ or send via PayPal (friends and family option) to CavalierHelp@CavalierAlliance.org . . .
