Support Blitz's Life-Saving Heart Surgery

My name is Katlyn; Conner and I received Blitz our golden Pyrenees as a wedding gift when we got married in November 2020. She was born in May of 2019! Shes almost 6…next week! In 2021 we welcomed a Baby girl, and they have been inseparable since. She went to every regular checkup and has always been healthy dog. In February 2024 we welcomed a baby boy into the world and these two have been best friends-chasing each other and running around the house.

This is where it gets emotional for me. In November 2024 at a routine visit at the vet, they found a heart murmur. It did throw them off a bit, as she has always been a healthy and active pup. It was a level 2 on a scale of 5. They said there was nothing that we needed to change as it was very minimum, and Blitz has been such a healthy dog. Fast forward to 2025, we noticed her heart beating just fast, and maybe we were overthinking it due to running around with the kids, taking avid walks, and simply just being a dog. Unfortunately, on Monday, May 12th Blitz was acting very strange, sad, lethargic, not wanting to eat, not playing with the kiddos, coughing, and panting. We knew something was wrong and guessed it would be the murmur. Google did not help! We called the ER in Collinsville, our vet on call around 11PM, and the ER in Kirkwood--that evening we monitored her knew what to look out for and if anything were to change, we would rush her to the ER. At 8AM the next morning we were able to get her into our vet for a URGENT visit. They ran blood work, took x-rays, found there to be fluid in her lungs and around her heart. They sent us straight to the ER for further evaluation. Upon the initial findings she is suffering with a 4 on the murmur scale, and in congestive heart failure with 6-12 months to live. They gave us an option for her to stay in ER critical care for 2 nights and see cardiology, but it would cost $3,300 or we could bring her home and she would be a ticking time bomb. Either way was hard to see, but we knew we had little kids who love their Blitzaroo and we do too. She was seen by the cardiologist and will need a PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) surgery to save her live. Elongate it for 6-8 more years. This is a congenital heart defect which means her heart between the aorta and the pulmonary artery failed to close after birth. Resulting in where we are right now. She is currently responding to the medication for CHF and she is eating and drinking again..yay!! She is currently at VSS (Veterinary Specialty Services) in Manchester Missouri. They normally could perform the surgery there for her to get a stint placed but due to weather/flooding damage they have to refer us to the University of Illinois for the PDA procedure this will cost an additional $700-900 dollars and then the procedure itself will cost $3,000-4,000 more. Its paramount that we do this, because if we don't, we each feel this is something that we would not be able to forgive ourselves for. Here's our story, our family is complete only with all its members, and with every ounce of our being we hope and pray this is the right choice. Our kiddos are asking where their puppy is! The first appointment at U of I is May 27th. Her surgery is scheduled for May 28th at the University of Illinois, and she will be discharged on May 29th. I will be traveling with her to ensure this is a smooth road for her recovery.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Love,

the Pardieck's