Hello my name is Cashew! I'm a teeny tiny dachshund born in Western Australia. I had a difficult birth and was bottle fed the first two weeks of life. I remained very small and at my six week check up, the veterinarian discovered that I had a heart murmur. I then met a cardiologist and was very well-behaved for my echo. The echo revealed that I had a grade 5 heart murmur caused by Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA).

PDA is completely curable with surgery, and I was able to get in with a specialty surgeon within the week.

We were told that even though I was very small and only 8 weeks old, that I could have a completely normal life after the surgery. We were quoted $5500 for the surgery and post-op care. Five thousand dollars seemed like a reasonable price for my young life, so we went ahead with surgery...

The surgery itself was a success and my heart is now pumping as it should. My PDA is cured. However, I am having a really hard time breathing. My cardiologist id on holiday and there have been delays in guidance as to what to do with me. Every time I am taken out of the oxygen chamber, I crash a bit and really struggle to breathe. So I have to go right back into the oxygen in ICU. I have needed multiple ultrasound scans, multiple x-rays and overnight stays. Now I am trying additional medications to see if those help. I was initially meant to stay one or two nights, but now the veterinarians aren't sure when I can go home. Every 12 hours in intensive care is an additional $1000 fees. While we were quoted $5500-6000, we are now sitting at $12,000 with no set date to go home and we need help to continue my care.

Any small amount helps. Every dollar donated will go directly to Cashew's veterinary bills. We are all praying for our little heart warrior and hoping he can have a long and healthy life, once we are over this hurdle.