A Quinns Rock veterinarian nurse who adopted her pet chihuahua in 2015 to save her from being put down is desperately hoping to raise $55,000 to send her to Sydney for life-saving heart surgery.
Christine MacKenzie took Shelby into her family home after she was surrendered at her vet clinic with a fractured leg and facing the prospect of being put down.
Ms MacKenzie said her clinic paid for the surgery before she adopted Shelby.
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READ NOW“My husband thought she was only going to be home for a few weeks and then she ended up being a permanent fixture in our house,” she said.
Ms MacKenzie currently teaches veterinary nursing at Applied Vocational Training in Ascot, with Shelby always in attendance for her classes and lectures.
In November last year, Ms Mackenzie noticed Shelby had developed a cough which she knew was not a good sign.
“I grabbed my stethoscope and I knew as soon as I listened to her heart that it wasn’t good. It was quite high-grade heart murmurs,” she said.
“We organised her an echocardiogram just to find out what was going on with the heart. It is quite common for particularly chihuahuas or small breed dogs to have mitral valve disease and it was confirmed that’s what Shelby had.
“I was really deflated straight off the bat because usually they’ll go on medication until end of life.”
Ms MacKenzie said Shelby’s heart failure meant she would likely die before the end of the year unless she undergoes intensive mitral valve repair heart surgery, which is currently not undertaken in Australia.
In her research, Ms MacKenzie coincidentally found a team of Japanese specialist surgeons who are due to arrive to Sydney in May to help train Australian surgeons to perform the operation on home soil.
Ms MacKenzie was able to get in contact with the JASMINE Veterinary Cardiovascular Medical Centre team in Japan and send an echocardiogram of Shelby’s heart to see if she could be a candidate for surgery.
It was confirmed in February that Shelby was one of three dogs selected to have the operation when the team travel from Japan to Sydney.
The surgery will cost Ms MacKenzie $55,000 and she has desperately started a GoFundMe page to help pay for it.
Ms MacKenzie said she hoped the crowd funding would not only give Shelby an extra chance at life but also raise awareness of the surgery so local vets could train for it and ultimately bring the costs down for other pet owners in the same position.
“Shelby’s story is not just about her own life but also about advancing veterinary care in Australia. By people supporting Shelby, they would not only be saving her life but also contributing to the future of veterinary medicine in Australia,” she said.
“This surgery has the potential to extend Shelby’s life by more than seven years, giving her the chance to enjoy many more happy and healthy days with her family. If she doesn’t have the surgery, she will not be here for next Christmas, which is devastating for us.”
At the time of print the GoFundMe had reached $13,000 of the $55,000, with the surgery planned for May 16-17.
“Donations would mean the world. I know it’s very cliche but she’s not just a pet, she’s with me every day as I go into work and she’s been through quite the journey with me,” Ms MacKenzie said.
“Any donation helps; we’ve been really lucky and we’ve had some really big donations but the important thing is that we have smaller donations and that a lot more people donate.”
Donations can be made to Shelby’s GoFundMe page here.