Benny The Frenchie's medical bills
Donation protected
Benny the Frenchie was born with an uncommon congenital birth defect of the heart. It is called Tetralogy of Fallot. Benny was going to be euthanized by his breeder because of this defect and I could not let that happen. Because of his condition he will not get as big as a normal French bulldog and will likely only live 2-3 years. Benny deserves to have the best life possible while he can and that means a lot of expense. Thank you thank you thank you to all of you for caring about this little guy as much as we do :)
I have included some information about his birth defect as well.
As the name indicates, animals with this condition have FOUR characteristic heart defects.
1) Pulmonic Stenosis- a narrowing of the pulmonary artery as it exits the heart on its way to the lungs.
2) Large interventricular communication ( small in Benny's case)... a small hole in his heart between his left and right ventricles.
3) Deviation of the origin of the aorta to the right (slightly deviated in Benny's case).
4) Concentric right ventricular hypertrophy.
In some cases of Tetralogy of Fallot, the pulmonic stenosis is so great, that the easiest path for the blood to take is from the right ventricle, through the hole in the septum to the left ventricle and out the aorta. This blood is now on its way to the body has bypassed the lungs and is therefore unoxygenated. This causes a state of hypoxemia (low arterial oxygen) and cyanosis in Benny. Exercise exacerbates the right to left shunting as it causes vasodilation in the skeletal muscle beds which decreases systemic vascular resistance. The right ventricular hypertrophy is secondary to the pulmonic stenosis because the ventricle is working harder to get blood through the narrower vessel with high resistance.
Medical management includes medications and possibly surgery. The surgery would be to dilate the stenosis and to patch up the hole.
I have included some information about his birth defect as well.
As the name indicates, animals with this condition have FOUR characteristic heart defects.
1) Pulmonic Stenosis- a narrowing of the pulmonary artery as it exits the heart on its way to the lungs.
2) Large interventricular communication ( small in Benny's case)... a small hole in his heart between his left and right ventricles.
3) Deviation of the origin of the aorta to the right (slightly deviated in Benny's case).
4) Concentric right ventricular hypertrophy.
In some cases of Tetralogy of Fallot, the pulmonic stenosis is so great, that the easiest path for the blood to take is from the right ventricle, through the hole in the septum to the left ventricle and out the aorta. This blood is now on its way to the body has bypassed the lungs and is therefore unoxygenated. This causes a state of hypoxemia (low arterial oxygen) and cyanosis in Benny. Exercise exacerbates the right to left shunting as it causes vasodilation in the skeletal muscle beds which decreases systemic vascular resistance. The right ventricular hypertrophy is secondary to the pulmonic stenosis because the ventricle is working harder to get blood through the narrower vessel with high resistance.
Medical management includes medications and possibly surgery. The surgery would be to dilate the stenosis and to patch up the hole.
Organizer
Rachele Doherty
Organizer
St. Joseph, MO