Raising money for Chloe

February 2023

Where to start? Chloe (our 4-month-old Golden Retriever) is our little baby girl that we brought home the week before Christmas. She has completed our family and has been Sadie's best friend (our 1-year-old Golden Retriever - they are 10 months apart).

Chloe and Sadie hit it off right from the start and have been inseparable ever since.

Chloe was our sweet little bundle of joy, until a few weeks ago when she stopped eating her food, lost a lot of weight, became very lethargic and was quite disorientated walking around the house (bumping into furniture etc).

We took her to the vet and the vet couldn't see anything obvious that was wrong with her, so he sent her back home where we kept a close eye on her. Then her symptoms escalated and we took her to the after-hours emergency vet where she was diagnosed to have an intrahepatic portosystemic shunt.

A portosystemic shunt (PSS) is an abnormal vein connecting the blood supply returning from the intestines to the vein returning blood to the heart, bypassing the liver (shunting).

We have since taken Chloe to get ct scans, ultrasounds, blood checks etc. and we have been told she also has a hepatic arteriovenous malformation.

Hepatic arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is a rare developmental vascular disorder characterized by direct arterial connection to a fistulous venous drainage system within the liver. The condition results in a high-flow, low-resistance shunt that can cause high-output cardiac failure and hydrops.

We have been told that it is extremely rare for a dog to have both conditions. If not treated, it is fetal and our options are to euthanise or to operate, with a high chance of successful recovery.

Now that we are aware of Chloe's conditions we are keeping her on a strict protein-free diet, along with her daily medication. We have also been told that Chloe would only be able to be treated this way for a maximum of 6 months.

Adelaide does not have the technology to perform the keyhole surgery she needs, so we have been in touch with a surgeon in Melbourne who can perform the surgery. He has advised that we wait until Chloe is 8 months old, and then we operate. This gives us 4 months to get Chloe healthy again and to help raise money for her operation.

To date, we have almost spent $6,000. This has been for her overnight stays at the emergency vet, ct scans, ultrasounds, blood work, tests, special food, medication and specialist appointments. We have now been given a quote of $15,000 for her operation.

We had every intention of getting pet insurance for Chloe (in fact, we have it for Sadie). We just didn't get around to setting it up for Chloe (we only had her for 2 months when we found out about her conditions). She now has it, but she will not be covered for these conditions.

Anyone who has met Chloe will agree that she is the sweetest little pup, she is always happy (lots of tail wagging), gentle, sweet, kind and of course beautiful! There is no way we aren't going to try to do everything we possibly can to help her. We have said to ourselves that until the surgery we are going to treat every day with her as a blessing and try to give her the best life we possibly can. We are also doing everything we can to help raise the money for her operation, along with all of her other expenses.

I own a small jewellery business and until her operation, 100% of the profits are going towards Chloe's surgery.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

If you have donated, thank you. Every little bit adds up. If you are not in the position to donate, but would still like to support Chloe, simply sharing this link to your Facebook page will be a huge help. We also have a template that can be printed and put in a lunch room with a QR code to this page, just reach out and we can email it to you.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your support means so much to us.

June 2023

Just wanting to give a little bit of an update for anyone who may be following along! Chloe is 7 months old and currently being medically managed. She now weighs 21.3kgs!!! She was just 9.9kgs when we brought her into the emergency vet in February, so we are very very happy with her growth and progress! We are still yet to speak to the surgeon in Melbourne because he said to our vet in Adelaide to wait until she's reached 8 months of age. We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has donated and helped out. The funds raised so far have gone towards Chloe's medical appointments, medication, scans, ultrasounds and special food. I will keep adding any major updates here with a date so you can stay up to date with Chloe's progress. The bond we have created with Chloe since discovering her condition is indescribable. We are cherishing every moment with her and making it our mission to give her the best life possible in the meantime!