Frankie’s Story
Teeny, tiny Frankie was just eight weeks old and weighed all of three pounds when he came to AFH. He came from a breeder who had originally sold him. The buyer returned him immediately because Frankie had a heart murmur and the buyer felt that he was defective. When AFH met Frankie for the first time, he was with his breeder at a vet, getting ready to be euthanized. As it turns out Frankie had a life-threatening heart condition called Patent Ductus Arteriosus, or a PDA. PDA is when an extra vessel near the heart doesn’t close after birth, as it should. AFH was able to convince the breeder to surrender him to the rescue.
Because there are so few veterinary surgeons who perform the surgery Frankie needed, and because Frankie was so small, finding a specialist who was willing and capable of successfully performing such a delicate surgery to fix his heart was going to be a challenge. Luckily, there had been another AFH puppy with the same condition, who we treated surgically just a few years before, so our president knew exactly who to call.
AFH immediately made an appointment with that surgeon. After an exam and echocardiogram to verify the diagnosis and to get an idea of the severity of Frankie’s condition, the surgeon agreed to perform the $5,000
On Valentine’s Day, 2018, Frankie, who weighed in just shy of four pounds, underwent the incredibly risky surgery that would fix his broken heart. The surgery was a huge success, and Frankie, who just turned a year old, and is now called Mikey. His fabulous adopters spoil him rotten and take him everywhere with them. They tell us he loves going on adventures to the beach and to the mountains, and that if it weren’t for his scar, you’d never know anything had been wrong with him.
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