Life Saving Surgery for Brynhild

Hi everyone - I am starting a funraiser to help pay for my friend Cathy Ochs-Cline's puppy, "Brynhild's" life saving surgery!

Brynhild is a Cardigan Welsh Corgi puppy. She was bred and is owned and loved by my puppy, "Risky's" breeder, Cathy.

Cathy has been breeding exceptional Cardigans for many many years and she is also an AKC judge. Cathy is a fabulous person who does everything in her power to breed the healthiest, most beautiful dogs with amazing temperaments.

But of course, in spite of best efforts, sometimes things happen that are completely out of our control.

This puppy needs life saving surgery. She has a heart defect which if left untreated will cause her to die before she reaches the age of 9 months. She needs this surgery ASAP!

Here is Brynhild the Cardi puppy's story. If you can help in any way - please do. Even the smallest amount helps. Thank you so much! - Paula

Bryhild's story, as told by Cathy:

"Brynhild was the last puppy born and was half the size of her sibs.

Though very tiny, Brynhild was never weak & always nursed well, although I helped her the first few days so the big puppies wouldn’t knock her off. I thought she just got the “compact parking space” before she was born. But Brynhild was a fighter from the beginning! :) She doubled her weigh in the same amount of time as her sibs.

But by 6 weeks I began to suspect we might have another problem since she was still pint-sized and had been on solid food for 3 weeks. However, she was as active, feisty & she certainly held her own in the litter.

The day before their 8 week veterinarian exam I bathed all the puppies and when I lifted Brynhild, I could feel her heart beating hard in her chest. I got a stethoscope out & listened to her heart. It beat strongly - maybe too strongly. I started to prepare myself for bad news at the vet exam. I was not expecting that she would have the most severe heart murmur 6 out of 6. Her prognosis was guarded until we could figure out what kind of defect she had.

I was able to get her a Cardiology consult 10 days later. The ECG & ultrasound confirmed she had a small PDA, a congenital defect caused by a shunt between the pulmonary artery & the aorta, which makes the heart work harder than it should. Brynhild’s small PDA is causing the loud murmur, significant turbulence & unfortunately it’s causing her heart to be significantly enlarged.

I called every university, vet school and most private clinics from Massachusetts to Florida trying to get Brynhild scheduled for her surgery.

My primary care vet felt Brynhild‘s surgery needed to happen fast, which was confirmed with chest x-rays showing that her heart took up most of her thoracic cavity.

With my vet's referral, I was able to get Brynhild seen at University of Georgia veterinary school through priority pre-authorization, and then as luck would have it, a cancellation!

Her consult is July 6, with surgery scheduled the next day. Although I’ve planned for sick dogs & whelping/puppy emergencies & illnesses, this situation is beyond anything I could have prepared for. However, I’m determined to get Brynhild the care she needs so she can live the life she deserves."

Please friends, if you can see it in your heart to donate to Brynhild's surgery, it would ensure this beautiful puppy is able to live a healthy life!