Liza has a sick heart and needs open-heart surgery!

Who is Liza?

Liza is a unique nine-year-old miniature poodle we adopted in April 2017 at the age of 5.

When we first met her, we instantly felt a connection and decided to adopt her. We wanted to provide her with a great home filled with all of the love and care that she deserves. She wasn’t in the best condition when we adopted her which made us even more determined to give her a great life. She was covered in mud and fleas, with half of her teeth missing. Until then, Liza received only one vaccine during her lifetime.

Once we took her home, we gave her the care that she needed. Liza received the medical care, grooming, and homemade dog food that she was lacking before we adopted her. It didn't take her long to adapt to new standards. She soon became a big part of our family, like our own child. She started sharing the bed and table with us (yes, she eats her food on a plate sitting at the table), she went on every trip we went on and was always right by our side. In just a few months living with us, she made up for all of the years she had that was filled with neglect. She became a completely different dog. Liza is now friendly and playful, and very fond of her new parents.

Liza has traveled with us to many places, but her favorite traveling destination is anywhere on the coast. Her favorite hobby is searching for lizards and swimming.

Big heart - big sister

Liza has a big heart - since 2019, she was a foster sister to more than 15 homeless puppies. She enjoyed her role as a big sister very much and helped many of them to learn to socialize better. Puppy after puppy, and we finally decided it's time for Liza to get a younger sister. In February 2020, we adopted a small german spitz named Helga. Even though we feared she might get jealous, Liza and Helga got together as a finger and a nail in no time. Liza is Helga's role model, and our days are filled with joy and love that's hard to describe in words. To Helga, Liza is her entire world and is the only one that she listens to. If Liza goes left, Helga goes left, if Liza eats her veggies, Helga will eat hers. If Liza barks, Helga barks. If they feel threatened, they will defend each other.

Why does Liza need your help and support?

Last year during Liza's veterinary check-up appointment, we received some unfortunate news. She has a heart murmur.

At the time we received the news, we didn't worry too much since the vet said it wasn’t a huge deal. Liza still continued normally with her daily activities; she was playful, eating and breathing normally, and could run and walk for miles without being tired….until the last few months. We've noticed Liza started coughing after a short run. Her breathing became heavy, especially during the night. Her weight dropped from 5.6 kg to 5.1 kg, although she was eating normally. The vet told us her symptoms (heavy breathing, coughing) are caused by a heart murmur. He took an x-ray which showed an enlarged heart.

Our heart broke into pieces

We were then told that because her heart is much bigger than it should be, that we need to see a cardiologist ASAP. The medical report was heartbreaking - Liza suffers from mitral valve degeneration stage B2 (possible C). In other words, she only has a few months to live without medicaments and 12-15 months with standard medication treatment. Dogs diagnosed with MVD require a lifetime of medical follow-up with an update of the medical treatment plan as the disease progresses.

Dogs that have heart failure may suffer from fatigue, coughing, fainting, labored breathing, anorexia, and unfortunately, eventual death from refractory pulmonary oedema and/or cardiac arrest. Hearing that she has so little to live broke us into pieces.

When prescribed medications (Vetmedin and Diuretics), we started searching for a surgical procedure. We were relieved when we found out that there is surgery for DMVD cases performed in Japan, Austria, UK, and France.

What is DMVD disease and how surgery helps?

Degenerative mitral valve disease affects the mitral valve, a flap that is located on the left side of the heart, between the atrium and the ventricle. This valve tissue tends to degenerate with age, gradually thickens, loses its elasticity, and is no longer impervious.

This lack of closure leads to abnormal blood flow inside the heart, known as mitral regurgitation. As the heart disease worsens, the chordae tendineae (cords) connecting the valve to the left ventricle may rupture. This complication can lead to pulmonary oedema (a buildup of fluid in the lungs making it difficult to breathe) and other detrimental complications to the dog's life.

While medication treatment can extend life, the disease is progressive, gradually worsening over time, and eventually leads to death.

The valve can only be repaired through a complicated open-heart operation using a cardiopulmonary bypass. Heart-lung bypass procedures induce cardiac arrest, thus enabling the surgeon to repair the valves on a motion-free heart. The operation has an 80% survival rate and enables the dog to live the rest of its normal natural life.

It's a strange little world, and we can't imagine our lives without Liza. We are eager to do whatever it takes to help her survive, get healthy again, and live a good life for the rest of her days. We are sure Liza is ready to fight for her family, for Helga especially, and the love she's found.

Liza’s operation in Austria is scheduled for early June. Our days are filled with anxiety now but this is giving us hope that Liza will completely recover. Unfortunately, the surgery is very expensive. Our Liza has a big heart - but we hope that your heart would be even bigger and that you will find some love to help her.

Please help us raise money for Liza's surgery to continue her life journey full of adventures.

Learn more:

https://mightyheartsproject.org/intervention

https://www.tierklinik-sattledt.at/mitralklappende...

https://jasmine-vet.co.jp/english

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Liza treba vašu pomoć!

Liza je pudla stara 9 godina kojoj je nedavno dijagnosticirana degenerativna bolest srčanog zaliska. Radi se o degeneraciji srčanog mitralnog zaliska, jednog od četiri zalistaka na srcu koji dijeli lijevu pretklijetku srca od lijeve klijetke i onemogućava krvi da se vraća natrag u pretklijetku. Kako zalistak degenerira i bude prožet fibroznim tkivom on se više ne zatvara u potpunosti i pri svakom stezanju srčanog mišića dopušta određenoj količini krvi da se vrati natrag iz klijetke u pretklijetku.

Kako se stanje pogoršava sve više krvi vraća kroz otvor, a posljedica je povećanje i lijeve i desne pretklijetke. Povećan tlaka u lijevoj pretklijetki smanjuje protok krvi od pluća do srca i dolazi do kongestije plućnih vena, posljedično uzrokujući izlazak tekućine iz vena u pleuralnu šupljinu i nastaje edem puća. U zadnjem stadiju dolazi do potpunog kolapsa zaliska. Liza je trenutno na lijekovima, ali uz terapiju je prosječna životna dob do godine dana. U Austriji se nalazi klinika koja obavlja operativni zahvat srčanog zaliska i omogućava Lizi da nastavi zdravo živjeti do duboke starosti. Iako je operacija rizična, uspješnost same operacije je 80% - 90%. Liza je prvi pas u Hrvatskoj koji će biti podvrgnut ovakvom operativnom zahvatu i zato trebamo vašu pomoć kako bismo joj omogućili zdrav život bez lijekova.

Operacija je skupa. Ali voljna sam preokrenuti i nebo i zemlju ako je potrebno samo da joj pomognemo. Razlog više zašto sam se odlučila na crowdfunding kampanju. Svaka pomoć je dobro došla. Dijelite, uplatite tko može...pomozimo svi zajedno Lizi da još dugo lovi i tjera mačke. I da krade Helgi, mlađoj sestrici, janjeću kožu. To joj je omiljeni hobi u posljednje vrijeme.

Hvala svima!