Little Minnow's Medical Bills

Minnow is one of the sweetest, friendliest, bravest puppies we have ever had the privilege to know. She is a spritely little thing full of joy, sugar, and spunk! Sadly, at just 13 weeks old, it was discovered that Minnow was born with a very rare and critical birth defect - Hiatal Hernia. This means there is a weakness in her diaphragm, and her stomach is slipping into her chest cavity. Minnow's owner noticed early symptoms in her and sought immediate medical attention. Despite this swift care, Minnow's condition deteriorated, and she has spent more than a week in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). This condition has caused her significant nausea, hypersalivation, sporadic regurgitation, continual acid reflux leading to esophageal burns, and the beginning of aspiration pneumonia. Aside from stabilizing her condition, the ultimate fix is surgery to repair the hole in her diaphragm and adhere the stomach and esophagus in place, so it does not put pressure on the repaired hernia. However, Minnow is a very young puppy - just over 3 months old - and her body is not physically mature enough for this surgery. Minnow will have to wait until she is a year old before this can be repaired for (hopefully) good! Until then, Minnow's owner has decided to pull out all the stops and support her through this. Her medical care team at the University of Missouri was able to do some creative solutioning and surgically inserted a feeding tube through the side of her abdomen into her stomach. This will allow her to eat a specialized diet, reduce the chances of regurgitation, and even lightly hold the stomach back from slipping back into her chest cavity. Minnow's case is very complicated and she's not out of the woods yet. Her owner is extremely dedicated to supporting her in every way he can. Clearly, they both have hurdles to overcome and the journey will be a difficult one. "She deserves it" is simply what he says. And I agree. So I am asking friends and strangers, far and wide, to consider contributing whatever they can to her mounting medical bills. If you can’t contribute at this time, please share!