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Heart Surgery For my Puppy George

Please Help Me Save My George



George is an energetic 10 year old Schnoodle. He loves everyone and is a very gentile sweet dog, whose favorite thing is to go on walks and to the doggy park, make new friends and play with his ball. 


He had a clean bill of health until one day after a walk, George suffered acute heart failure and almost died. This video was one month before he went into heart failure for the second time.




Thankfully an emergency vets team was able to save George, but further tests with a cardiologist revealed that the mitral valve in his heart had inexplicably ruptured along with multiple cords, and his heart is very enlarged. That means George's heart is no longer functioning properly and could fail again at any time.  George is now on medication for the rest of his life and has to rest to manage his condition as much as possible, but without surgery his heart will deteriorate progressively over the next 5- 12 months and George will die. The vet said there is nothing else we can do to help George only surgery. 


Heart surgery specially valve surgery,  is very popular for humans, however for dogs there are very few vets  in the world that are able to perform it. The surgery actually involves stopping the heart and starting it again. It is very technical and specific. To get the surgery the dog would need to check in at least 5 days before, and spend at least 10-15 days in recovery, and be able to come back into the hospital for a few weeks after that for rechecks. Thankfully, the amazing team at the Royal Vets College in London have assessed George and believe he is a perfect candidate for surgery. 




George's surgery is schedule for February 25th, we have heard of dogs getting bumped up, and need to be ready for anything. Right now we are working on keeping George stable so he can get the surgery as soon as possible and heal his heart. George wants to live. Given the complexity of the surgery and after care, the total cost with travel will be about 35,000.  Nineteen thousand dollars will go directly to the medical team.  The rest is for travel to the UK from Los Angeles, accommodations in the UK, as well as blood work and prep to keep him stable. This year we have already spent about 17,000 to keep George stable. 




Thanks to George'  excellent health and strong kidneys, he has been able to handle high doses of medication. The surgery will have extremely high likelihood of success, (90%) and it is the doctors opinion that it will allow George  to lead a full, long and happy life and get some of his original pep back. After the surgery many dogs hearts go back to their original size and they no longer need heart medication. As any pet owner will know, George is the love of my life and I want to do everything I can to take this opportunity and to get him back to playing with his ball.  And making new friends. 


I am extremely grateful for any donations none is to big or smallI  will be posting pictures daily on George's instagram. @iwantmygeorge <3 




GEORGE' STORY

George rescued me 10 years ago. We met on the set of the Mike and Juliet morning talk show. He was in a Doggy segment  for hypoallergenic dogs that president Obama may want to adopt. I was doing a modeling segment for makeup.  Struggling to book acting jobs, I was so excited to be working. The greenroom of the show was like a dream and the CEO of Zootoo, Richard Thompson, came up to me with George and said, this is your dog, it was surreal. As soon as I met George we had a connection and I knew I had to have him.



George had flown into NYC from Chicago and it broke my heart to think that after the show they would fly him back to the shelter. He was a skittish dog that was underweight and looked abused. When it was his turn to be on camera he peed on live TV.  After he was finished I walked with him around the studio and I could tell he was speaking to me. I was so fortunate and lucky that the amazing  Mr. Thompson, an animal lover was able to assist in helping me adopt the love of my life. 



In life we all have situations and problems that are hard to over come, George has been there for me when no one else was. Through tragic losses of family members, in hospice, funerals, and breakups.  Even though George is sick, he still follows me everywhere and is my best
friend.  


He is no longer scared of people petting him and he has grown into being a family dog.


THE SURGICAL TEAM




An amazing surgical team in London, RVC lead by the brilliant Dan Brockman, will perform the miracle surgery on George that will save his life. I am still in awe that such advances in medical technology and veterinary medicine experts exist. If I hadn't been able to find them, George's future would look a lot more dire. The single most common reason for death in dogs is heart failure, yet there are no doctors in America performing this surgery. 

(From their Website, incase you want to learn more, there is amazing info on there page)
The first open heart surgery at the RVC took place in 2005. It was performed by Professor of Small Animal Surgery Dan Brockman. In 2016, the RVC became the first veterinary service in the world to successfully treat a dog's stenotic (narrowed) tricuspid valve with open heart surgery. The Labrador patient, Mabel, suffered from congenital tricuspid dysplasia. Dysplasia of the tricuspid valve can cause either leakage of blood or stenosis.



PLEASE SHARE GEORGE’S STORY! 

When George was first diagnosed it felt like a death sentence and it was just so much information I couldn't understand it all.  I hope George's story will spread to other dog and pet families to let them know that this surgery exists and you can help your baby too. So many beautiful dogs are diagnosed with heart failure, I hope one day we can find a cure, or work together so that the diagnosis is a much more positive one. Maybe George's surgery can contribute to an increased awareness for this condition to save puppies or kitty's around the world!  I am so great fully to be apart of the online community called Mighty Hearts Project, Nate Estes has helped so many people with the scheduling and organization of doing this surgery. Also the group Congestive Heart Failure in Dogs has helped me stay sane. If you are also going through this please reach out it is hard go through it alone, I know.  He is my best friend and I am going to fight to keep him healthy. 




After talking to many dog owners who have had successful surgeries,
I have decided to give my baby another shot at life. That is why I am asking for your help. I have tried everything from special diets, to supplements, and even Reiki. I have family members who have had heart surgery and it saved their life. Now, I would like to do that for my dog. Please let me know if you have had any experience with this. And thanks so much for joining me on this journey and assisting in any way possible. 




We would appreciate every donation no matter how big or small. This is not something I imagined ever having to do but I just want the best for my little boy.



If you cannot do gofund me our paypal is
www.paypal.com/iwantmylauren all proceeds are going to save George. 


Thank you all for reading ❤️

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Lauren Francesca
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Hollis, NY

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