This is my Golden Retriever, Perseus. He is about 10 weeks old. On his first trip to the vet, Perseus had a heart murmur. Some puppies can have a physiologic heart murmur that goes away as they grow, but this was a very strong murmur. Another vet examined him and said he had a Patent Ductus Arteriosus or PDA. PDA is a congenital birth defect that alters the blood flow through the heart of a puppy. The Ductus Arteriosus is important before the puppy is born because it allows oxygenated blood to bypass the lungs and go out to the rest of the body. When the puppy takes its first breath, the Ductus Arteriosus usually closes and blood flows through the heart and lungs normally. This did not happen with Perseus. He misses out on some of his oxygenated blood, which makes him get tired easily. Dogs usually live for a year or two until they develop heart failure due to the PDA remodeling the heart and die. There is a surgery that corrects PDAs and allows dogs to live a healthy and full life. There are two different ways a surgeon can repair a PDA: ligation (tying the vessel closed) or by placing a device inside the vessel to redirect blood flow. Both options provide a great outlook for the puppy's quality of life. The only thing holding us back from getting the surgery is a lack of funding. When I originally adopted the puppy, I had budgeted for vet trips, toys, food, and other things normal puppies need, but I did not anticipate a surgery that can cost anywhere from $2000 to $5000. I have found ways to finance some of the cost, but I need outside help to cover the rest of the surgery.