Join Team Lady Bird to extend a dog's life.

On Monday, May 22, 2023 Lady Bird was seen at the CVCA clinic in Columbia, MD. We received the stunning news that she had a congenital heart defect. This explains why she had staggered or passed out after zoomies. We’d been informed she had a heart murmur by the shelter and two different vets (rated 3 or 4/6). Hence the referral to the cardiologist. The diagnosis: Severe Pulmonary Stenosis. The extra membrane doesn’t look like much on the echocardiogram -- just a little flutter past the pulmonary valve, blocking blood to the lungs. It’s very repairable and the surgery has an 86% success rate. There’s only one challenge. It’s the cost -- $6,900 for the procedure. Lady Bird is between 1-2 years old. She’s got another 12-15 years of life, if we can schedule her procedure -- a balloon valvuloplasty. We've set the goal a little higher to cover added expenses. Like a heart monitor. Additional echocaridograms will cost $700-900 each. She'll need these for a check up in 3-4 months. Will you join Team Lady Bird to give her the full and exuberant life she wants? Our meet-cute happened on Saturday, April 22, 2023 when we saw each other for the first time. Our eyes met and I instantly knew she was the one I’d been looking for. Lady Bird (then known as Fawn) saw a crowd of people approaching her. She was curious, but also a little nervous. It was during the first break from TEDx Foggy Bottom. One of my good friends was the closing speaker, and I was attending with another friend. During the morning session, the host kept reminding us that one of the exhibitors was Homeward Trails and they had brought dogs which could be petted, outside. So when the break happened, most of the audience followed the crowd to meet the TWO dogs, Reba and Fawn. With grace, Fawn allowed everyone to ooh and aah over her. She received pets and attention. I knelt down next to her. She was looking around for Reba. I snapped a few pictures and texted Sam. When I know I’ve met the one, I know. And it was only reasonable to give others as much warning as I could. Within minutes, his text came back with one word. YES. During the lunch break, I approached the shelter volunteer, Lois, letting her know I wanted to adopt “Fawn.” Lois was thrilled and there was much happiness all around. We exchanged information and she let me know that Fawn had been a stray in rural Virginia, she had a couple of health conditions; a tick-borne disease called anaplasma and a heart murmur that was most likely treatable or she would outgrow it. Lois assured me they had resources to assist, if needed. I wasn’t worried at all during the honeymoon of finding my next dog. I completed the adoption application just before midnight. Lois responded within 5 minutes. Three days later, on 4/25/23, I met Lois at her house and picked up Lady Bird -- who was very, very stinky and couldn’t be bathed for two weeks. Along with Lady Bird, Lois gave me the remaining doxycycline (for anaplasma + respiratory infections, common in shelters) and vaccine information. As a shelter volunteer, Lois was full of good advice and common sense. On Friday, 4/28/23, Lady Bird was sneezing uncontrollably, still smelled bad and we made a trip to the VCA-Rockville, part of the adoption package. They would test and treat Lady Bird up to $250. This vet visit would diagnose and prescribe: • Ear yeast infection (cleanser + medication) • Flea/tick/heartworm medication • Cardiac murmur 4/6 with referral to cardiologist • Activity restriction due to spay that was performed on 4/25. The sneezing was diagnosed as allergies with a recommendation to change her food and give her Benadryl. She still had four days of doxycycline to complete her 14 day treatment from the shelter. Also on this day, our friends brought over Malachai -- he’s 80 lbs, Malamute/shepherd mix -- for a one week stay with us. Let’s just say that Lady Bird and Malachai are an item now. In the meantime, Mulligan (our terrier mix rescue, 4 years old) started coughing. We had already scheduled an appointment for him and the two cats to receive their vaccines. This was part of the adoption agreement, since Mulligan was a couple of months overdue and the cats were unvaccinated being indoor-only cats. When Lady Bird’s sneezing was not improved, we added her to the trip bound for Banfield. What a zoo! Two dogs, two cats and Malachai waiting in the car. It must have been comical to see us in the BMW wagon, loaded with animals. Here was Lady Bird’s condition as of 5/4/2023: • Ear abrasion + advice to use coconut oil to assist with healing • Hookworms + powder to sprinkle on food for 10 days • Cardiac murmur 3/6 with referral to cardiologist • Anaplasma (already known, but confirmed) • Vaccines not already given Of course, they also prescribed a cough suppressant for Mulligan who did not have any other symptoms or positive tests. He would have uncontrollable sneezing for the next 36 hours and we determined he was allergic to the cough suppressant. He would join LadyBird on doxycycline. Lady Bird would continue to be stuffed up, sneezing and have a really gross runny nose for another week. We returned to the vet on 5/12/2023, for more news. • Upper respiratory infection, anaplasma treatment + doxycycline (28 day protocol, previous doxy was given for 14 days) • Ear abrasion not healing + ear ointment • Antibiotic injection • Probiotic -- to address ongoing diarrhea • Prescription food recommendation • Bloodwork, indicating an infection • NO vaccine boosters for 30 days We are committed to insuring she has the best life possible. Many of our friends encouraged us to ask for help. And that leads us back to where we started -- at the cardiologists office, hearing about Lady Bird’s congenital heart defect, the balloon valvuloplasty treatment and wanting her to have her best life, however long it is. Will you join Team Lady Bird? The details, if you want more: You can read her medical history here. Enjoy more photos here and videos here. Previous expenses already paid. Funds raised over the amount we need will be donated to our local animal shelter.