Personal message

Apollo (8 months old) has recently been diagnosed with pulmonary stenosis (a congenital heart disease that's not commonly seen here). She's in need of a balloon valvuloplasty to open her right valve, which is abnormally thickened. Without the treatment, the worst-case scenario is that she only has a year left, even on the medication that she's been prescribed.

The surgery is estimated to cost ~R50,000 (US$2,650). I'm a student, and my part-time jobs have only just started, so I'm currently struggling to come up with the money to cover the costs (especially after covering her CT scan). Once the money starts coming in again, I'm more than happy to reimburse anyone that would like me to.

A bit of background on Apollo:

After helping out in a nearby community with a soup kitchen, I came across a very malnourished pitbull. After giving her some food, the owner found me, let me know that the dog had just had puppies, and asked if I'd like to see them.

The puppies (8) were small and some weren't looking well. The mom was refusing to let them feed. I offered to buy some puppy-milk formula so that the mom could gain weight without having to worry about feeding, and the puppies would get the nutrients they need from the formula. I ended up taking in the smallest one to bottle feed, but after about a week, it passed away. About a day after, another of the puppies passed away.

I took the remaining puppies (6) to the vet for de-worming and to get general check ups. The vet noticed two of them were underweight and in pain, and we all agreed that it was likely parvo that was infecting the entire litter. The two underweight puppies were checked in for a stay at the vet with intensive treatment.

The weaker one survived the night, but passed the next morning. After a few days of tubes, rest, and a lot of visits from me and my partner, Apollo was all set to leave the vet. She was only 5 weeks old. We ended up adopting her because the vet didn't want to potentially re-expose her to any illnesses.

She has become the absolute light of my life. I love her to pieces and I would do anything to ensure that she has a healthy (and hopefully long) life.

At this point, with the pulmonic stenosis, she isn't allowed to run around or go to dog parks, because the pressure that exerts on her heart would likely be detrimental. I want her to be able to just be a dog, with all the boundless energy that entails.

But as things stand, that's not the life that she'll be able to have. If anyone is able to help out with this, I would be eternally grateful.

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