The Tiny Puppy with a Giant Fight

Aryana Phinazee is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hi everyone, I’m reaching out with the hope of sharing my puppy’s story.

Boston, born on March 5, 2025, is fighting for her life and making veterinary history in the process.

It started suddenly. Boston vomited once, became lethargic, began trembling, and showed pale gums and signs of abdominal pain on May 26th. She showed no prior clinical symptoms. We rushed her to the emergency vet, where a FAST scan ultrasound revealed free fluid in her abdomen. With her condition worsening and showing signs of complexity, she was immediately transferred to the University of Florida Veterinary Hospital for advanced care that evening.

Within 24 hours, a specialized ultrasound revealed the unthinkable: a perforated stomach ulcer, dangerously close to her liver and bile duct. In such a tiny puppy, this is incredibly rare and life-threatening. Boston was transferred for emergency surgery from the critical care unit (5/28). During the procedure, her surgeons discovered that the damage to the surrounding tissue was too severe for a simple repair. They had to perform a complete pylorectomy, removing the outflow of her stomach and rerouting her digestive tract. This is an extremely rare and technically complex procedure, especially for a dog this young.

At just 11 weeks old, Boston became the youngest patient in UF’s history to have had this surgery, let alone survive. The previous youngest was 2 years old. Boston was being rolled back to the ICU when she quickly recovered from the anesthesia, surprising everyone. She showed she was going to fight this.

But her fight didn’t stop there. She has dealt with septic peritonitis, received two blood transfusions and two plasma transfusions, had severe hypoalbuminemia, nearly absent white blood cells, and ileus, a loss of gut movement. None of that mattered to her though. Throughout all of this, Boston showered everyone in love and hit every recovery milestone she needed.

On 6/4, Boston shocked everyone with a new symptom- severe facial swelling. Again, Boston had no concerns about this and continued to show her resilient spirit, despite looking like a chipmunk. With treatment, the swelling went down within a day, but further testing showed something sinister. Now, Boston faces her biggest challenge yet: a large thrombosis (blood clot) near her heart. This life-threatening clot was recently discovered and is now the team’s top priority. It poses serious risks to her heart and lungs and will require careful, intensive management in the days ahead.

And yet, this tiny, brave girl keeps fighting. Her spirit has amazed the entire veterinary team. You wouldn’t even know she had a one-in-a-million, life-changing surgery just a week prior.

As we prepare for the next phase of her care, her journey is far from over. The clot near her heart will require close observation and may need further treatment. She has started treatment today (6/6) but every day in ICU is critical, and her care costs continue to grow.

We never imagined asking for help. But Boston has proven she deserves every chance. She has shown more resilience than any creature I’ve met, and as long as she is fighting, I will do everything in my power to fight with her. If you are able, we would be so grateful for any contribution. If you can’t donate, sharing her story means the world to us. Boston is a once-in-a-lifetime puppy and thanks to her incredible doctors and your support, we hope to give her the lifetime she so clearly wants.

Baby Boston- her and her six litter mates were fostered through Franklin County Human Society. I had the privilege to bottle feed her and 3 other siblings