Heart surgery for Berkeley, our 9 week old pup
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Funds for Berkeley’s PRAA Surgery
Our names are Hannah (me) and Jake, and we recently welcomed Berkeley as the newest member of our family. Berkeley is a sweet 9 week old German Shepherd who was only 7 pounds when we brought him home. Berkeley was one in a litter of 9 puppies, and looked to be the runt. When we thought we were going to pick out a puppy on a sunny Sunday afternoon, little did we know that a puppy would pick us to be his family. He sealed the deal with a kiss on the nose, and we knew he would be coming home with us.
Berkeley’s Story
On the first night Berkeley came to his forever home, he was settling in wonderfully to indoor life. He loved his fluffy blankets and playing with his favorite new squeaky toy. As Berkeley was settling in, we fed him his first meal. As the evening went on, it quickly became apparent that something wasn’t right with our sweet little puppy. Berkeley began regurgitating any food that he ate, and couldn’t seem to keep anything down. We took his temperature and it was normal, and proceeded to try to make him comfortable and feed him a bland diet of plain chicken. Throughout the night though, it was clear that he needed to get to the vet right away in the morning.
11/19
We took Berkeley to the vet to have him examined and try to determine why he was sick. He was tested for Parvo and Giardia, but thankfully both tests came back negative. As we discussed the situation with the vet, there were multiple possibilities of what could be wrong. With all of the changes associated with coming to a new home, the cause could be stress or starting a new diet. Another possibility was that Berkeley was simply eating too fast. Being the runt of the large litter of puppies, we believe he had to eat quickly in order to get the food before the other puppies ate it all. And there was also the possibility that it could be something else. The vet prescribed us special Gastrointestinal dog food to try to settle his stomach. We were hopeful that the change in diet would take care of the problem. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
11/21
It was my birthday, and so we spent the morning relaxing at my sister’s house. But as the morning progressed, Berkeley seemed unable to keep any food down. We were trying to feed him by the spoon, and even fed him out of a baby spoon in order to help him eat slower. But that didn’t seem to help either. We immediately called the vet and scheduled an appointment that day. We went to the vet worried that our already very skinny puppy not being able to keep food down. Our vet was absolutely wonderful, and gave us tips and advice on how to keep food down, and the potential next steps if we couldn’t get the regurgitation under control. We felt a sense of relief as we left the vet with a plan.
11/22-11/26
We tried everything we possibly could to help Berkeley from getting sick. We blended wet food and dry food with water to make a smoothie to feed him, which he couldn’t seem to keep down well. We blended his prescription wet food with water and fed him 5-8 small meals through a syringe daily. We had a few good days where we only got sick 2-4 times. We bought a special dog food bowl that is supposed to help slow dogs eating, and tried feeding him with his head elevated. No matter what we tried, he couldn’t keep all of his food down. After he had a really bad day and got very sick in his crate, we booked a vet appointment for the next day.
11/27
Over the short period of time we had owned Berkeley, we had done hours upon hours of research on what could be causing our puppy to be so sick. With the knowledge we had gained, we went into the vet with a plan, and the grim possibility that Berkeley could have an incurable condition called Megaesophagus. During our appointment, the vet had a strong feeling that our puppy could have a condition called Persistent Right Aortic Arch (PRAA), which would require an operation on his heart to fix. We made a plan the next day to complete a Barium study to get to the bottom of what was really wrong.
11/28 - Latest Update
We went into our vet at 8am, Wednesday morning. I dropped off our puppy for his study, hopeful to get the answers to the cause of Berkeley’s illness. We waited anxiously throughout the day for an update. I received a call at 11am from the vet. The suspicions had been confirmed, and Berkeley was diagnosed with PRAA.
According to information found on VetStreet, “Persistent right aortic arch is a congenital abnormality of the blood vessels of the heart that can affect esophageal function in some dogs and less commonly, in cats. Basically, an embryonic branch of the aorta fails to regress and is wrapped around the esophagus when a puppy or kitten is born. This puts pressure on the tube, preventing the passage of food in the esophagus when the pet eats, causing regurgitation. Surgery can correct the problem, and follow-up care can usually reverse the esophageal effects, especially if done early in a pet’s life.”
Although we were ecstatic that we could fix Berkeley’s illness through surgery and allow him to live a full and happy life, we knew there was a big road ahead of us with an intense surgery to fix the problem.
We were referred to a local surgeon, as a specialist would be required to be able to complete such a complicated surgery. We scheduled our consultation on 11/30 at noon, and from there will schedule the surgery.
On top of the almost $750 in vet bills that have accumulated in the last 2 weeks and almost $90 in dog food, we received the estimate that it would cost $3,500-$4,500 to complete the surgery. It wasn’t a question in our head that we would have the surgery for Berkeley, this would be the only way he could live to be a happy and healthy dog. The question was how we were going to go about paying for the medical expenses.
We are incredibly grateful to anyone who is able to donate to help us out with Berkeley’s medical expenses. Any donations given will go to vet bills, surgical expense, post operative care, and the specialized diet he is required to be on until he is better. He is a puppy so full of life with the most charming and a silly little personality who wants to play like a normal sassy little puppy, but is unable to live normally in his condition. We want to give Berkeley everything he needs to live the happiest life possible, and will do everything in our power to make that possible.
To help us get the word out, we would greatly appreciate if you could share our link on any of your social media platforms. We appreciate the support, and look forward to sharing updates on our journey to getting a healthy puppy.
Our names are Hannah (me) and Jake, and we recently welcomed Berkeley as the newest member of our family. Berkeley is a sweet 9 week old German Shepherd who was only 7 pounds when we brought him home. Berkeley was one in a litter of 9 puppies, and looked to be the runt. When we thought we were going to pick out a puppy on a sunny Sunday afternoon, little did we know that a puppy would pick us to be his family. He sealed the deal with a kiss on the nose, and we knew he would be coming home with us.
Berkeley’s Story
On the first night Berkeley came to his forever home, he was settling in wonderfully to indoor life. He loved his fluffy blankets and playing with his favorite new squeaky toy. As Berkeley was settling in, we fed him his first meal. As the evening went on, it quickly became apparent that something wasn’t right with our sweet little puppy. Berkeley began regurgitating any food that he ate, and couldn’t seem to keep anything down. We took his temperature and it was normal, and proceeded to try to make him comfortable and feed him a bland diet of plain chicken. Throughout the night though, it was clear that he needed to get to the vet right away in the morning.
11/19
We took Berkeley to the vet to have him examined and try to determine why he was sick. He was tested for Parvo and Giardia, but thankfully both tests came back negative. As we discussed the situation with the vet, there were multiple possibilities of what could be wrong. With all of the changes associated with coming to a new home, the cause could be stress or starting a new diet. Another possibility was that Berkeley was simply eating too fast. Being the runt of the large litter of puppies, we believe he had to eat quickly in order to get the food before the other puppies ate it all. And there was also the possibility that it could be something else. The vet prescribed us special Gastrointestinal dog food to try to settle his stomach. We were hopeful that the change in diet would take care of the problem. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
11/21
It was my birthday, and so we spent the morning relaxing at my sister’s house. But as the morning progressed, Berkeley seemed unable to keep any food down. We were trying to feed him by the spoon, and even fed him out of a baby spoon in order to help him eat slower. But that didn’t seem to help either. We immediately called the vet and scheduled an appointment that day. We went to the vet worried that our already very skinny puppy not being able to keep food down. Our vet was absolutely wonderful, and gave us tips and advice on how to keep food down, and the potential next steps if we couldn’t get the regurgitation under control. We felt a sense of relief as we left the vet with a plan.
11/22-11/26
We tried everything we possibly could to help Berkeley from getting sick. We blended wet food and dry food with water to make a smoothie to feed him, which he couldn’t seem to keep down well. We blended his prescription wet food with water and fed him 5-8 small meals through a syringe daily. We had a few good days where we only got sick 2-4 times. We bought a special dog food bowl that is supposed to help slow dogs eating, and tried feeding him with his head elevated. No matter what we tried, he couldn’t keep all of his food down. After he had a really bad day and got very sick in his crate, we booked a vet appointment for the next day.
11/27
Over the short period of time we had owned Berkeley, we had done hours upon hours of research on what could be causing our puppy to be so sick. With the knowledge we had gained, we went into the vet with a plan, and the grim possibility that Berkeley could have an incurable condition called Megaesophagus. During our appointment, the vet had a strong feeling that our puppy could have a condition called Persistent Right Aortic Arch (PRAA), which would require an operation on his heart to fix. We made a plan the next day to complete a Barium study to get to the bottom of what was really wrong.
11/28 - Latest Update
We went into our vet at 8am, Wednesday morning. I dropped off our puppy for his study, hopeful to get the answers to the cause of Berkeley’s illness. We waited anxiously throughout the day for an update. I received a call at 11am from the vet. The suspicions had been confirmed, and Berkeley was diagnosed with PRAA.
According to information found on VetStreet, “Persistent right aortic arch is a congenital abnormality of the blood vessels of the heart that can affect esophageal function in some dogs and less commonly, in cats. Basically, an embryonic branch of the aorta fails to regress and is wrapped around the esophagus when a puppy or kitten is born. This puts pressure on the tube, preventing the passage of food in the esophagus when the pet eats, causing regurgitation. Surgery can correct the problem, and follow-up care can usually reverse the esophageal effects, especially if done early in a pet’s life.”
Although we were ecstatic that we could fix Berkeley’s illness through surgery and allow him to live a full and happy life, we knew there was a big road ahead of us with an intense surgery to fix the problem.
We were referred to a local surgeon, as a specialist would be required to be able to complete such a complicated surgery. We scheduled our consultation on 11/30 at noon, and from there will schedule the surgery.
On top of the almost $750 in vet bills that have accumulated in the last 2 weeks and almost $90 in dog food, we received the estimate that it would cost $3,500-$4,500 to complete the surgery. It wasn’t a question in our head that we would have the surgery for Berkeley, this would be the only way he could live to be a happy and healthy dog. The question was how we were going to go about paying for the medical expenses.
We are incredibly grateful to anyone who is able to donate to help us out with Berkeley’s medical expenses. Any donations given will go to vet bills, surgical expense, post operative care, and the specialized diet he is required to be on until he is better. He is a puppy so full of life with the most charming and a silly little personality who wants to play like a normal sassy little puppy, but is unable to live normally in his condition. We want to give Berkeley everything he needs to live the happiest life possible, and will do everything in our power to make that possible.
To help us get the word out, we would greatly appreciate if you could share our link on any of your social media platforms. We appreciate the support, and look forward to sharing updates on our journey to getting a healthy puppy.
Organizer
Hannah Behrent
Organizer
Beaverton, OR
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