Police K9 Zuma Heart Surgery

Our beloved K9 Zuma has been diagnosed with Pulmonic Stenosis which will require a minimally invasive surgery. Pulmonic Stenosis is a congential heart defect of the semilunar valve that is between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery (great vessel that takes blood to the lungs). Her heart is chronically subjected to higher stress than normal and forced to work more than it should. The heart muscle will become thicker in order to compensate for this increased effort.  This is the reason she has collapsed and became disoriented several times after working or playing too hard. Her heart is basically not pumping enough oxygenated blood to her lungs. If left untreated, she will eventually develop conjestitive heart failure which will likely kill her.   ‘Balloon valvuloplasty’ is a minimally invasive cardiac catheterization procedure used to treat narrowed heart valves by stretching them open. This treatment involves the passage under general anesthesia of special catheters (that are very expensive) which when an attached balloon is inflated, tears the restricted valve leaflets. Zuma is currently being treated with beta-adrenergic blockers. While Zuma is a certified Police K9, she’s our personal dog and we’ve paid for all of her medical expenses since we’ve had her at 6 weeks old. The surgery only is estimated at the upwards of $5,000.00 (possibly more) and we will have to travel either 3 ½ hours or 5 hours away for the surgery. We will have to stay at minimum of 2 nights so she can be monitored before and after surgery, so that also means we will have to book a hotel room for at least 2 to 3 nights. We won’t be able to do this without the help of you. We are never ones to ask for help but for our baby girl, we are reaching out for help! Anything will help! Thank Y’all