Barkley
Birmingham, Alabama
Male
Age: 5 months
11.5#
Health: Heart Defects: PDA and Pulmoninc Stenoisis
Adoption Donation: TBA
Welcome in, Barkley! Barkley is a 5 month old pup who comes to us due to not one, but two, congenital heart defects. Sadly, Barkley has been diagnosed with both PDA (patent ductus arteriosis) and severe pulmonic valve stenosis, both which will take his life if not surgically repaired ๐ Thankfully, heโs found his way to us where he can get the help he desperately needs ๐๐ป We were able to get his evaluation scheduled with Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine amazing cardiology team ๐ฉบ for April 9th and his life saving surgery will be the next day. It is likely that he will require two separate surgeries, with the PDA repaired first.
If youโre interested in learning more about PDA and pulmonic valve stenosis and how they are repaired, we will be sharing more information soon. While we have had many other past pups with these defects, Barkley is our first with both. We look forward to getting him all fixed up! Barkley is being fostered in Birmingham, Alabama, and we promise, more pupdates to come ๐พ๐
UPDATE MARCH 19. 2024: Baby Barkley is a precious 5 month old pup who came to us due to not one, but two, congenital heart defects. Sadly, Barkley has been diagnosed with both PDA (patent ductus arteriosis) and severe pulmonic valve stenosis, both which will take his life if not surgically repaired ๐ Thankfully, heโs found his way to us where he can get the help he desperately needs ๐๐ป His evaluation is scheduled with Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine cardiology team ๐ฉบ for April 9th and his life saving surgery will be the next day. It is likely that he will require two separate surgeries to address both issues. Better understand his heart conditions โคต๏ธ1๏ธโฃ PULMONIC VALVE STENOSIS - The easiest way to understand this condition is to think of a hose with a normal flow of water. If you squeeze the hose making it more narrow, water pressure increases. This is what is happening with Barkley causing the pressure gradient across his pulmonic valve to be very high due to the narrowing. Barkleyโs very high pressure places him in the โsevereโ category and puts him at high risk of sudden death and congestive heart failure. He needs a life saving surgical procedure called a balloon valvuloplasty which is going to open up the โhoseโ (pulmonic valve) and consequentially bring down that pressure into a normal and healthy value. 2๏ธโฃ PATENT DUCTUS ARTERIOSIS - Occurs due to the failure of the ductus ateriosis (a large blood vessel) to close after birth, leaving a passageway for blood flow and resulting in eventual left sided heart disease and heart failure. Barkleyโs opening and passageway is wide. This condition, left untreated, will result in death for most dogs before they even turn 1 year old. He needs a life saving procedure to close this opening.The good news โก๏ธ If both procedures to close the passageway and open the narrowing of his valve are successful, Barkley will go on to have the opportunity to live a completely normal, healthy life ๐๐ผ He certainly deserves that and nothing would make us happier than to help give that to him ๐While we have had other Cavaliers in our care undergo surgical repair for PDA (most recently Olive) and balloon valvuloplasty for pulmonic valve stenosis (most recently Freya), we have not yet had a pup require both surgeries. He will be in the best hands, and we are eager to get Barkley all fixed up โค๏ธโ๐ฉน Surgeries will be costly and we will share an estimate when we receive one at Auburn ๐๐ปt anim id est laborum.
UPDATE MARCH 29, 2024: 5 month old Barkley in Birmingham, Alabama bringing us the most adooooorable #FrogLegFriday ๐ธ pose ๐
April 9th will be here soon enough where precious baby Barkley will make the short trip to Auburn University (@auburnvetmed) where he will undergo lifesaving heart surgery for his congenital heart defects โค๏ธโ๐ฉน๐๐ป.
UPDATE APRIL 9, 2024: Baby Barkley is Auburn bound ๐๐ Today he will meet with the amazing cardiology team ๐ฉบ at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine where they will fully evaluate him and confirm his congenital heart defect diagnoses of PDA and pulmonic valve stenosis ๐ซ They will then devise a plan which we understand will likely require 2 separate life saving surgeries, with the first one on the schedule for tomorrow ๐๐ป While we absolutely hate that he has to go through this, we are so thankful that he has made it this far and now has the opportunity to be completely fixed up. We are eager to have this behind him! When we know more, we will share more ๐
UPDATE APRIL 10, 2024: Yesterday, Baby Barkley was fully evaluated by the amazing Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine cardiology team ๐ฉบ where his diagnoses of PDA and severe pulmonic valve stenosis were confirmed ๐ซ While we were anticipating that this would require two separate lifesaving surgeries to repair both issues, we were told today that there is a chance that both could be able to be fixed at the same time ๐๐ป With the hope of that being a possibility, his surgery has been scheduled for Thursday so that he can get some medication on board tomorrow. It will be a โgame timeโ decision depending how things are going, how he is doing with the anesthesia, etc. It would be amazing if Barkley could be all fixed up on Thursday! โค๏ธโ๐ฉน
We received the estimate today which is between $4,000 and $5,000. If youโd like to make a donation towards Barkleyโs life saving heart surgery, THANK YOU! ๐ฅฐ We are able to say โyesโ to puppies like Barkley because of your support ๐! To make a tax deductible donation, you can, Venmo @CavalierRescue , or hit the donate button...
We will continue to bring Barkley updates as we get them ๐๐๐ป
UPDATE APRIL 10, 2024: We end the day with a baby Barkley photo and update from the amazing cardiology team at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine ๐ฉบ
They report that Barkley is doing fantastic - eating well and playing. He is getting a lot of time with the team being carried and in laps during desk time. They say, โhe is gathering the biggest fan club!โ ๐
His lifesaving heart surgery is tomorrow and he is scheduled to go to the anesthesiologist at about 10am CST and we will be nervously and eagerly awaiting updates. Will you please say a prayer ๐๐ป or send some pawsitive thoughts ๐พ Barkleyโs way? We are very ready to have him all fixed up โค๏ธโ๐ฉน and back home ๐ก ๐
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THURSDAY UPDATE 1: surgery will be starting at about 1:30pm CST ๐๐ป
THURSDAY UPDATE 2: โJust finished surgery. We were able to do both procedures and they went well. Just waiting on him to wake up from anesthesia, but we will call soon!โ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ป
UPDATE APRIL 11, 2024: Baby Barkley is awake! ๐๐ผ Today he underwent his lifesaving heart surgeries at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine to repair his PDA and severe pulmonic valve stenosis โค๏ธโ๐ฉน We do not have a lot of information yet as his surgeries were just completed, but we received this precious photo of him and his furiend ๐ถ in recovery ๐
Barkley will be closely monitored all night and will have radiographs and an echocardiogram rechecked in the morning. As long as all looks good, he will be able to be discharged tomorrow and will be back in the comforts of his loving foster home to rest and recover ๐ก
We will share more when we know more but please keep the prayers ๐๐ป and pawsitive thoughts ๐พ coming for a smooth, comfortable recovery for our little baby Barks ๐
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FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE: Barkley had a great night! Labwork and imaging will occur later this morning.1, 2024: We end the day with a baby Barkley photo and update from the amazing cardiology team at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine ๐ฉบ
They report that Barkley is doing fantastic - eating well and playing. He is getting a lot of time with the team being carried and in laps during desk time. They say, โhe is gathering the biggest fan club!โ ๐
His lifesaving heart surgery is tomorrow and he is scheduled to go to the anesthesiologist at about 10am CST and we will be nervously and eagerly awaiting updates. Will you please say a prayer ๐๐ป or send some pawsitive thoughts ๐พ Barkleyโs way? We are very ready to have him all fixed up โค๏ธโ๐ฉน and back home ๐ก ๐
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THURSDAY UPDATE 1: surgery will be starting at about 1:30pm CST ๐๐ป
THURSDAY UPDATE 2: โJust finished surgery. We were able to do both procedures and they went well. Just waiting on him to wake up from anesthesia, but we will call soon!โ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ป
UPDATE APRIL 12, 2024: NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES!!! ๐ฆธโโ๏ธ Meet the AMAZING cardiology team at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine ๐ฉบ who performed Barkleyโs lifesaving heart surgeries and provided him with the very best of care ๐Barkley had a wonderful recheck this morning ๐๐ผ, was able to be discharged, has now left the building, and is now en route ๐ back to his foster home in Birmingham, Alabama ๐ก for continued rest and recovery โค๏ธโ๐ฉน Barkleyโs surgeries were a BIG success and he will now have the opportunity to go on to live a completely normal, healthy life ๐ฅน We will be providing additional details about his surgeries soon but for now letโs give a big round of applause to Barkleyโs incredible team ๐๐ผ We also need to give a big thank you to all of YOU who donated towards his medical expenses - his final bill has been completely covered by your donations ๐ Thank you for always supporting us and rallying behind our dogs so we can continue to connect them with these amazing medical teams and give them the very best outcomes possible ๐
UPDATE APRIL 18, 2024: Baby Barkley continues to recover beautifully in his foster home in Birmingham, Alabama following his life saving heart surgery โค๏ธโ๐ฉน He is on strict โrestโ orders ๐ and so his foster siblings are helping partake in his โquietโ activities like enjoying a good chew! ๐พ Such good furiends! ๐Barkley will have a recheck with his cardiology team ๐ฉบ in mid July. Of course in the meantime, we will continue to bring you Baby Barkley pupdates ๐
UPDATE APRIL 27, 2024: Itโs been 2 weeks since baby Barkley was able to be discharged from Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine after his lifesaving heart surgeries ๐ฉบ ๐ He has recovered very well โ๏ธ His incision is all healed up โ๏ธ He is now off antibiotics โ๏ธ And can ditch the cone โ๏ธ๐๐ผ
Over the next month, Barkley will be able to slowly return to normal activity which will make this playful, active baby puppy very happy ๐พ In the meantime, heโs enjoying his leisurely strolls with his foster family ๐