Shaynia Update!!! Saturday, April 18, 2009

From all of us at the Sterling Shelter and on behalf of Shaynia the amazing pup… We THANK YOU for helping us to EXCEED OUR goal to raise money for her heart surgery! To date - We’ve raised over $6,000!!!!!

We are thankful that our shelter is blessed to have amazing and compassionate, caring supporters LIKE YOU...

Donations have poured in over the past couple of weeks – big and small – from amazing individuals and supporters all over the United States!!!

One of the most touching donations – that still brings tears to my eyes – is from Kate Schellie a teacher in the Extended Day classroom at the Eliot-Pearson Children's School in Medford.
Kate sent us this email -

Last week we had a lemonade stand with the children (ages 3-6) and we raised $29.50. The children decided that they wanted to donate their money to an animal shelter, and we came upon Shaynia. The children have created an immediate connection with her, and have written cards and notes for her.

Here are some of the things that the children asked to put in the email to you:

"Shaynia is a good name." - Amelia, age 5
"Most of the kids really, really like her and want to take her home." - C.J., age 6
"I wish they had an animal shelter here so we could go see her." - Ben, age 5
"I want you to visit my house." - Sabrielle, age 4
"I hope you feel better." - Amelia, age 5
"We really like you and we wish we could take you home." - Maya, age 5
Kate – please give all your special supporters a BIG hug from us at the shelter and let them know they helped us SAVE SHAYNIA!!! They should be very proud of themselves…. WE ARE!!

Words can’t even explain how touched I am for all your support in helping Save Shaynia!!!

As of last week, we had to reschedule Shaynia’s surgery as she developed a cough…After quick review our vet team was in agreement and decided she should stay in her amazing foster home with Stacey and Mike – THANK YOU to Stacey and Mike for spoiling her ROTTEN!!! Shaynia is being treated like the princess she is and gets to go to work on the GOLF COURSE… you can see she’s doing a great job at supervising the work!!!

A note from Shaynia’s foster parents…

Hi All! Thought I’d pass along this picture of Shaynia. It pretty much sums up her personality. She is such a happy puppy! We took her to the golf course Sunday to check out some renovations happening and she was in heaven! She loved riding on the golf cart and meeting new people. It is very easy to fall in love with her! She loves her toys! She has a few squeaky toys and a nylabone she always keeps close by or leaves them in her bed. She’s already an expert at retrieving any toys we throw. She chases her toys and brings them right back to us and drops them in front of us for another go of it. I’m impressed at how quickly she learns new tricks. In addition to all of the above, Shaynia is great in the car - she loves taking rides!! That’s all for now, stay tuned…..Love, Shaynia’s Foster Parents - Stacey & Mike

As of this week and Saturday, April 18, 2009 – Shaynia has been cleared for surgery and we are expecting her surgery to happen mid week this week coming up! We’re very excited…. Shaynia is such a good girl! She truly deserves a happy, long life! THANK YOU all for making her dream at a new life come true!!!! We will update Shaynia’s story once she’s had her surgery!!!

AND….thankfully we’ve exceeded our fundraising goals…

Because every penny counts and when it rains it pours... as I was previously updating Shaynia’s story on Monday April 6th 2009 - our vet informed me that we have yet another pup that is going to need an Echo/EKG....as she too, has an abnormal sounding heart... there is a very good chance that Little Patria (who came to us on our Save A Sato program - all the way from Puerto Rico) has the same heart condition that Shaynia has. What are the odds of that? Around here… it just doesn’t surprise us… things like this seem to happen in sets of “twos” or “threes”.

You can see her and her brother Oso here… Patria is about half the size of her brother…and is considered a dwarf… possibly a congential defect. But WE don’t think she’s defective at all… how could she be? Just look at that face!

NEVER FEAR - we've already got an email in to the amazing Dr Jane Toomey to set up an ECHO appointment... any money left over from Shaynia's surgery... will be put towards Patria's medical care.... and if we have the resources and skills to help her.. she will be cared for in every way imaginable... so keep all your paws crossed... and send some love and thoughts to our Special Girls!

Patria is being fostered by one of our VCA Managers from the Everett hospital – which is the best possible foster home for her. Should there be any type of concern or emergency – she is in great, caring, loving hands with all sorts of resources…We’ve had lots of reports from Patria’s foster parents…she is doing well and getting along wonderfully with their little dog, Lily!

Our shelter is committed to helping as many pets as possible and we are truly thankfully we have AMAZING supporters who help us reach that goal!!!! We commend you all for taking the time and money to help us reach our goals...for WITHOUT YOU.. they wouldn't be possible!

Thank you...And don't forget to keep up to date with the shelter events and happenings on Join us on facebook! www.facebook.com/people/Sterling-Shelter/1382700804

Lots of love...woofs, drools, slurps and fur…

Leigh Grady
Executive Director
Animal Shelter Inc
"Every Nose Needs a Home"
Join us online at our events...Learn more about Whisker Walk www.whiskerwalk.org

Original April Report:

To all our pet loving supporters and friends… we are hoping you’ll help us… WE ARE Saving Shaynia…

A week ago we rescued Shaynia from Virginia on our Homebound Hounds program…when one of our veterinarians examined her before her spay surgery - she was found to have an abnormal heart sound…so we booked her the 1^st available Ultrasound with a cardiologist and off she went.

Shaynia is such a good girl…she doesn’t even know she’s got this condition … but her results came back finding Patent Ductus Arteriosus, (PDA), the most common congenital heart defects in dogs. Read below for more details on PDA.

Without treatment 2/3 of affected puppies will die before reaching age one year.

Shaynia is an amazing soul. Big brown eyes, beautiful black, soft fur …she will cuddle on your lap and play with toys for hours… she deserves a LONG and happy, healthy life…

Saving Shaynia means a lot to us…coming from rural Virginia where the gas chambers are still used…she’s already beat the odds!

Our staff have promised her that she wasn’t in jeopardy and we are on a mission… we are SAVING SHAYNIA and we are doing a fundraiser to pay for her surgery ­ Time is important and we want her to have the procedure done ASAP… to have a better, well deserved quality life.

Our shelter is very blessed and thankful to have a board certified surgeon at the Northboro VCA offer to do her surgery at a 50% discount (estimated costs were $2500+)…

Dr. Melissa Dudley is an AMAZING surgeon... Dr. Dudley has fixed many of our special needs cases - Dr. Dudley is such a caring, compassionate veterinarian... we are priviledged to know her and our pets are very lucky to be treated by her... and the staff at the Northboro VCA have always been so wonderful to us. We KNOW Shaynia will be in excellent hands…

We truly hope you will support all the VCA hospitals as they support our shelter and pets…

As of Friday April 3rd - we’re awaiting a surgery date and our fundraising is effective immediately and will be on-going until we raise enough money to cover her surgery and anticipated follow up care.

Once Shaynia recovers she will be looking for a home… so if your interested in adopting this amazing creature… please email us for info

If you’d like to help US Save Shaynia ­ just click here to make a donation. In the comments section please send us a note that your helping us Save Shaynia. We’ll keep everyone posted on Shaynia’s progress over the days/weeks and we thank you ALL for taking the time to learn about Shaynia!

Thank you for learning about our baby Shaynia...

So what is a Ductus Arteriosus and why shouldn’t it be Patent?

Everybody had a ductus arteriosus once but it was a long time ago, back in one’s fetal days. As a developing fetus, one depends on one’s umbilical circulation to supply oxygen. After all, not only are the lungs not developed yet but there is no air to breathe inside mom’s uterus. But we still have a heart and it still pumps blood even in the fetal stage. The problem is that we really need the blood to bypass the non-functional lung and that is where the ductus arteriosus comes in. The ductus arteriosus is a small channel connecting the pulmonary artery (which will one day carry blood to the lungs) and the aorta (which already carries blood to the rest of the body). Because the lung is developing, full of fluid, and generally not ready to do anything, blood vessels growing there have high resistance. In other words, it would take a lot of force from the heart to circulate blood there. Since there is a low resistance channel wide open, blood diverts there, by-passing the lungs, and circulating through the rest of the fetal body.

At birth, everything changes. We take our first breath. Our lungs begin to work as they were meant to: to exchange gases. The fill with air and the circulatory resistance drops. It then becomes easier for the blood to flow to the lung rather than through the ductus. The ductus closes within the first 3 days of life and is securely closed by day 7 to 10 of life.

Blood now flows the way it is supposed to: from the right side of the heart to the lung to pick up oxygen then back to the left side of the heart to the body to deliver the oxygen.

Or at least that is what is supposed to happen. Sometimes the ductus does not close. It remains open or “patent.” When the ductus stays open, blood from the aorta will want to flow, not to the body but to the low resistance ductus opening and into the pulmonary artery. This is called a left to right shunt and creates an assortment of problems.

Why Left to Right Shunting is Bad

The body has its oxygen requirement and demands to be serviced by the heart. The problem is that a great deal of blood (how much depends on the size of the ductus) is shunting back to the pulmonary circulation. In order to meet the body’s oxygen demand, the heart is going to have to pump all the more blood to cover what circulates in the shunt as well as what the body needs. This is a lot of extra work for the heart and failure can result, leading to coughing, weakness, and difficulty breathing. In fact, more than 25% of pups have some degree of heart failure at the time their patent ductus is discovered.
Treatment for PDA involves surgical tying off of the ductus with a piece of suture or coil.

If this can be accomplished, all the heart problems are reversible. FORTUNATELY ­ Shaynia is in this category and she can live a normal and healthy long life…

If heart failure is present, it will need to be controlled with medicine before surgery is possible.

If the volume overload to the lung’s circulation is allowed to go on indefinitely (and the patient has not died from heart failure during puppyhood), resistance increases in the lung and the shunt may diminish or even reverse to a right to left shunt. Increased resistance in the lung circulation is called pulmonary hypertension. A right to left shunt is no longer something that can be fixed and the patient will be very sick from heart disease by age 2 to 3.

Treatment: Surgical Ligation

This is the traditional method of repair. The chest is opened and a piece of suture is used to tie off the patent ductus. Generally a specialist is required to perform this procedure but complication rate is less than 5%, with less than 2% requiring a second procedure due to re-opening of the ductus.