Toby's Heart♥
Donativo protegido
There isn’t really a short way to explain our story but I’m going to try. It all started when my boyfriend and I went through a pretty life-changing experience. We had lost our jobs a month before moving in together, a place we had picked due to our combined income. Some very important relationships were broken during this time as well, which added to the enormous amount of pain and stress we felt. For about 3 months we felt really lost and alone but once we pulled ourselves together we were able to begin creating our own life. We decided to start our own business, we moved into our new apartment and we put all our energy into bettering ourselves. After some time, relationships started to mend and a trickle effect of positive change began to occur. During this time we spent a lot of time with two of our great friends who supported us immensely and their two french bulldogs. It's safe to say we fell in love with these two happy, funny, playful girls. My boyfriend and I are both dog lovers but neither of us knew how perfect french bulldogs are. Not so seriously we started looking into adoption and breeders in the area. Within a couple of days I had talked to multiple breeders via Facebook. We had decided we would want a boy (if we were actually going to get one) so I asked about male puppies that were available and their cost. We decided on a price we wouldn’t go over, all while not really believing this was realistically going to happen.
Honestly, it was just making me happy to do research and talk to these breeders and act like it was going to happen.
On January 1st I got in touch with a breeder that was 15 minutes away from where we live and said we could come by and meet the puppies that day. We went with no intention of buying a puppy, we just wanted to play with some frenchie puppies. However, we left that evening with our very own 8-week-old, lilac fawn merle puppy, and named him Toby. When I was researching breeders I wanted to make sure we were only considering safe, responsible, AKC certified breeders. I looked at reviews and photos, spoke to them, and asked all the right questions, at least we thought. This was our first time buying a dog of our own and I guess you could say we were a little naive, as we are both pretty trusting people. We asked the breeder about the health of the puppies and their mom and dad to make sure that Toby would be as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, he wasn’t honest with us.
Fast forward to Toby’s first vet appointment we were told he had a heart murmur so severe that the nurse could feel it through his chest when she first picked him up. After spending over $1,200 on an echocardiogram/ultrasound and a recommended Cardiologist appointment, we were told that Toby has what’s called Pulmonic Stenosis - “a malformation of the Pulmonic valve leading to obstruction to the flow of blood from the heart into the lungs.” It is a hereditary/congenital heart defect that he was born with. He was one of two in a litter of 6 that had a level 2 heart murmur at birth. We confronted the breeder who admitted to knowing about the murmur but said he didn’t remember which two puppies had them. He also expressed that he didn’t think it was a big deal.
Although murmurs can turn out to be innocent, they can also become fairly serious. Unfortunately, for Toby his Pulmonary artery/valve is extremely narrow as well as deformed, making it difficult for blood to pass through. This causes his heart to work twice as hard and that can lead to many different symptoms such as inflammation in the right side of his heart, exercise intolerance, fainting, coughing due to fluid leaking into his lungs, heart failure, and sudden death.
This information was extremely hard for us to hear. Toby came into our lives during a time when we didn’t even realize how much we needed him. He immediately grounded us, gave us a bigger purpose, and made us a family. We don't want to picture a life without him, at least not anytime soon. If you have met Toby you know how special he is. He is smart, funny, kind, and the most loving, snuggly dog we have ever known. We hoped and hoped that Toby would have a mild case and that we could go on living our lives while monitoring him (more) closely but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
In order for blood to flow through a vessel or across a heart valve there must be a force propelling the blood, which is known as the pressure gradient. In dogs with severe Pulmonic Stenosis, the pressure gradient is categorized at a number of 80mmhg or more. Toby has a pressure gradient of 125mmhg and they have already noticed some swelling on the right side of his heart. Although Toby has yet to show any symptoms of his condition, he has fallen into the severe category.
If nothing is done to try and help him, his lifespan may be less than 3 years.
My boyfriend and I started this gofundme because we want to do whatever we can to help our puppy. We are 21 and 25 years old and in the midst of trying to grow our new business to build financial stability. In these last 6 months, we have personally overcome so much and want to continue to learn and grow from our experiences, good or bad. However, for us to properly try and help Toby right now, we need some help financially.
There is a procedure that can be done called a Balloon Valvuloplasty where they place a catheter through Toby’s vein and into his heart. Once the balloon is placed in his Pulmonary artery/valve, they will expand the balloon in hopes that it will expand the valve, making blood flow easier for his heart. We were told that this procedure costs upwards of $5,000, not including what we have already spent or the cost of travel for two overnight trips driving 5 hours from our home.
Your donation will help us give Toby a chance to live a longer life, and that means everything to us.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you are not able to donate, please share!
Honestly, it was just making me happy to do research and talk to these breeders and act like it was going to happen.
On January 1st I got in touch with a breeder that was 15 minutes away from where we live and said we could come by and meet the puppies that day. We went with no intention of buying a puppy, we just wanted to play with some frenchie puppies. However, we left that evening with our very own 8-week-old, lilac fawn merle puppy, and named him Toby. When I was researching breeders I wanted to make sure we were only considering safe, responsible, AKC certified breeders. I looked at reviews and photos, spoke to them, and asked all the right questions, at least we thought. This was our first time buying a dog of our own and I guess you could say we were a little naive, as we are both pretty trusting people. We asked the breeder about the health of the puppies and their mom and dad to make sure that Toby would be as healthy as possible. Unfortunately, he wasn’t honest with us.
Fast forward to Toby’s first vet appointment we were told he had a heart murmur so severe that the nurse could feel it through his chest when she first picked him up. After spending over $1,200 on an echocardiogram/ultrasound and a recommended Cardiologist appointment, we were told that Toby has what’s called Pulmonic Stenosis - “a malformation of the Pulmonic valve leading to obstruction to the flow of blood from the heart into the lungs.” It is a hereditary/congenital heart defect that he was born with. He was one of two in a litter of 6 that had a level 2 heart murmur at birth. We confronted the breeder who admitted to knowing about the murmur but said he didn’t remember which two puppies had them. He also expressed that he didn’t think it was a big deal.
Although murmurs can turn out to be innocent, they can also become fairly serious. Unfortunately, for Toby his Pulmonary artery/valve is extremely narrow as well as deformed, making it difficult for blood to pass through. This causes his heart to work twice as hard and that can lead to many different symptoms such as inflammation in the right side of his heart, exercise intolerance, fainting, coughing due to fluid leaking into his lungs, heart failure, and sudden death.
This information was extremely hard for us to hear. Toby came into our lives during a time when we didn’t even realize how much we needed him. He immediately grounded us, gave us a bigger purpose, and made us a family. We don't want to picture a life without him, at least not anytime soon. If you have met Toby you know how special he is. He is smart, funny, kind, and the most loving, snuggly dog we have ever known. We hoped and hoped that Toby would have a mild case and that we could go on living our lives while monitoring him (more) closely but unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
In order for blood to flow through a vessel or across a heart valve there must be a force propelling the blood, which is known as the pressure gradient. In dogs with severe Pulmonic Stenosis, the pressure gradient is categorized at a number of 80mmhg or more. Toby has a pressure gradient of 125mmhg and they have already noticed some swelling on the right side of his heart. Although Toby has yet to show any symptoms of his condition, he has fallen into the severe category.
If nothing is done to try and help him, his lifespan may be less than 3 years.
My boyfriend and I started this gofundme because we want to do whatever we can to help our puppy. We are 21 and 25 years old and in the midst of trying to grow our new business to build financial stability. In these last 6 months, we have personally overcome so much and want to continue to learn and grow from our experiences, good or bad. However, for us to properly try and help Toby right now, we need some help financially.
There is a procedure that can be done called a Balloon Valvuloplasty where they place a catheter through Toby’s vein and into his heart. Once the balloon is placed in his Pulmonary artery/valve, they will expand the balloon in hopes that it will expand the valve, making blood flow easier for his heart. We were told that this procedure costs upwards of $5,000, not including what we have already spent or the cost of travel for two overnight trips driving 5 hours from our home.
Your donation will help us give Toby a chance to live a longer life, and that means everything to us.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you are not able to donate, please share!
Organizador
Sabrina McMenamin
Organizador
Deerfield Beach, FL
