Rocco's new heart ❤
Donation protected
This is for my little dog Rocco, he is dying and the only one thing that can save him is this life saving operation which very few people in the world perform.
He is my world, my family.
We really need your help to support this life changing situation and consider kindly donating.
If everyone who sees this was to help even just to give as little as 1 pound it would go a long way into saving him.
I know I'm biased but can honestly tell you that he is the kindest, loveliest most gentle dog you could meet. I love him with all my heart. I'm a freelance hairstylist and he usually goes everywhere with me. He lightens up anyone's day as he's so friendly. He'd never once been ill and always been full of energy. So you can imagine the shock I felt when he was then diagnosed with mitral valve heart failure just over four months ago. It started as a faint heart murmur in April then very rapidly progressed and resulted in me having to resuscitate him as he collapsed and stopped breathing which is when I found out he'd gone into heart failure. He's been put on quite a few medications. I now can't allow him to go on long walks or play properly as he can collapse suddenly if gets too excited.
He's fine when kept calm at home and let out in the garden whenever he needs.
Medication alone can't fix the problem it can only help take the pressure off and slow down the progression.
The only thing that could save his fate is this operation.
But after months of research and very few people in the world who perform it has proved difficult.
I've spoken to the 'supervet' Fitzpatrick referrals clinic and numerous cardiac specialists in the UK with no luck on finding a way out as no one risks performing it, due to it being so complicated which led me to search for those who did and had the experience. Which is when I found out about Dr Masami Uechi. He has had a 90% success rate in operating this procedure on small dogs like Rocco. So many don't seem to realise how rare this operation is.
Because of this it would take Dr Masami Uechi and his team to fly here or Paris for the surgery which results in the high cost. Also for hospital care for 1 week after as well as the surgery itself. The surgery is also performed by a close knit team of at least 10 vets and assistants due to the complicated components of the operation and they all have an important role to play.
He's still young and if successful the operation could give him his full life back.
I can't tell you exactly how heartbreaking it is. It's undescribable the hurt I'm going through and you feel so helpless which is why I want to try everything I can for him.
I will try and save as much as I can myself but won't be able to achieve anything near what is needed and my insurance covers very little in this area which is why we are here. I never ask for help with money and it's embarrassing to do so but if it means helping Rocco then I'll do whatever it takes.
I've had criticism already about people not understanding why i would want to spend that much on a dog. The reason why is because it's a life and he also makes me extremely happy. The same way others would choose to spend it on cars, watches, holidays etc because that makes them happy. I don't think it's a bad thing to want to try all I can to save him.
If we can get this out to as many people as possible then even the smallest donations count. Even if we don't hit target it will go a long way into treatment and medications in future to keep him going as long and as comfortable as possible.
Thankyou for taking the time to read all this and can answer any questions you may have.
Rocco also has a Facebook profile for anyone wanting to add as friend or just follow him to keep updated with the progress.
His name on there is Rocco Hosker.
www.facebook.com/rocco.hosker
Also the person who is looking to bring this more to UK and has been assisting Dr Masami Uechi and also the team in Paris with Sabine Bozon is London based Dr Dan Brockman at the Royal Veterinary College. This could be a game changer so more awareness needs to be spread. This is a very common condition and would save the lives of many dogs if the right teams and more training was given to perform this rare operation here with other uk vets. Which in turn would make it more affordable to pet owners.
I'd also like to say to anyone with a pet, that if you find out your pet has a heart murmur please get it checked out properly with an ultrasound as soon as possible. Because like many I was told it was mild and probably nothing to worry about so no further action was advised.
Don't listen and check anyway to be safe because I learnt the hard way and in cases like this the best time to catch it is in the early stages. It progresses quickly (in our case 2 months) so the quicker you find out and get the medication they need the better.
He is my world, my family.
We really need your help to support this life changing situation and consider kindly donating.
If everyone who sees this was to help even just to give as little as 1 pound it would go a long way into saving him.
I know I'm biased but can honestly tell you that he is the kindest, loveliest most gentle dog you could meet. I love him with all my heart. I'm a freelance hairstylist and he usually goes everywhere with me. He lightens up anyone's day as he's so friendly. He'd never once been ill and always been full of energy. So you can imagine the shock I felt when he was then diagnosed with mitral valve heart failure just over four months ago. It started as a faint heart murmur in April then very rapidly progressed and resulted in me having to resuscitate him as he collapsed and stopped breathing which is when I found out he'd gone into heart failure. He's been put on quite a few medications. I now can't allow him to go on long walks or play properly as he can collapse suddenly if gets too excited.
He's fine when kept calm at home and let out in the garden whenever he needs.
Medication alone can't fix the problem it can only help take the pressure off and slow down the progression.
The only thing that could save his fate is this operation.
But after months of research and very few people in the world who perform it has proved difficult.
I've spoken to the 'supervet' Fitzpatrick referrals clinic and numerous cardiac specialists in the UK with no luck on finding a way out as no one risks performing it, due to it being so complicated which led me to search for those who did and had the experience. Which is when I found out about Dr Masami Uechi. He has had a 90% success rate in operating this procedure on small dogs like Rocco. So many don't seem to realise how rare this operation is.
Because of this it would take Dr Masami Uechi and his team to fly here or Paris for the surgery which results in the high cost. Also for hospital care for 1 week after as well as the surgery itself. The surgery is also performed by a close knit team of at least 10 vets and assistants due to the complicated components of the operation and they all have an important role to play.
He's still young and if successful the operation could give him his full life back.
I can't tell you exactly how heartbreaking it is. It's undescribable the hurt I'm going through and you feel so helpless which is why I want to try everything I can for him.
I will try and save as much as I can myself but won't be able to achieve anything near what is needed and my insurance covers very little in this area which is why we are here. I never ask for help with money and it's embarrassing to do so but if it means helping Rocco then I'll do whatever it takes.
I've had criticism already about people not understanding why i would want to spend that much on a dog. The reason why is because it's a life and he also makes me extremely happy. The same way others would choose to spend it on cars, watches, holidays etc because that makes them happy. I don't think it's a bad thing to want to try all I can to save him.
If we can get this out to as many people as possible then even the smallest donations count. Even if we don't hit target it will go a long way into treatment and medications in future to keep him going as long and as comfortable as possible.
Thankyou for taking the time to read all this and can answer any questions you may have.
Rocco also has a Facebook profile for anyone wanting to add as friend or just follow him to keep updated with the progress.
His name on there is Rocco Hosker.
www.facebook.com/rocco.hosker
Also the person who is looking to bring this more to UK and has been assisting Dr Masami Uechi and also the team in Paris with Sabine Bozon is London based Dr Dan Brockman at the Royal Veterinary College. This could be a game changer so more awareness needs to be spread. This is a very common condition and would save the lives of many dogs if the right teams and more training was given to perform this rare operation here with other uk vets. Which in turn would make it more affordable to pet owners.
I'd also like to say to anyone with a pet, that if you find out your pet has a heart murmur please get it checked out properly with an ultrasound as soon as possible. Because like many I was told it was mild and probably nothing to worry about so no further action was advised.
Don't listen and check anyway to be safe because I learnt the hard way and in cases like this the best time to catch it is in the early stages. It progresses quickly (in our case 2 months) so the quicker you find out and get the medication they need the better.
Organizer
Samantha Hosker
Organizer
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