I rescued a three-month-old puppy (now five months) from the East Valley Animal Shelter in Feb. She and her sister had been abandoned in a backyard. We are guessing because Valentine (my dog) is missing one eye, and her sister only has three legs.
All adopted dogs are required to be spayed before you can even take them home but they called me to pick up Valentine early because they detected a heart murmur and it needed to be monitored during the surgery and they didn’t have the equipment to do that at their facilities. Upon taking Valentine to the Vet for her initial check-up we found out that the heart murmur was extremely high grade (6/6) and the odds weren’t too great for a puppy so small and blood work and an ultrasound needed to be done before we could find out what was wrong and what she needed.
Those are, unfortunately, very expensive tests. I spoke with the shelter and they said I could give her back and choose a new dog within thirty days but they didn’t say too much about the fate of Valentine. Even after a day, I was so in love with this sweet dog I couldn’t let her go. The vet recommended waiting a month to see if she grew out of the murmur, then getting the tests if she still needed them after that. The month passed, and the murmur was still there so we went ahead with the tests and discovered that Valentine has a PDA (patent ductus arteriosis) and all the extra work is enlarging her heart. Basically, when you are in utero, there is a valve that bypasses the lungs because you are getting oxygen from your mommy. It closes when you are born, but Valentine’s didn’t so her little heart was working extra hard and going all around trying to pump blood throughout her body. The good news is, that with the surgery, she should be a happy healthy puppy just like her sister!!!
Valentine is the most amazing dog, she has the most amazing personality! Even though I want to smother her with kisses she loves her “space” under the bed, she thinks she’s a big dog (and struts around like one too), and she is amazing with dog, cats, guinea pigs, and humans alike. She loves to give kisses and play! Sometimes she acts like she needs to go out to potty, but really she’s just trying to meet more dogs to play because when we go out she’s just looking around wagging her little tail, you can’t even be mad.
I am SO grateful to WestieMed and their generosity. With their help, my baby is going to be able to have the surgery she needs and the fabulous life she deserves.
Thank you so much again!
Alexandria Filer