Dogs with SAS?

Hi! I 'm new here. I'm would sure like to find someone who's going through (or has gone through ) having a dog with sub aortic stenois. My retriever mix Mandy has it. She is 2 years and 10 months old. A vet in Cleveland told us we'd be lucky if she lives one year. Ohio State U. told us to hope for three years. They couldn't even fix her heart with surgery (said she would die in surgery). She takes medication and we limit her activity and she does pretty well. Biggest problem is we have a dobbie mix Lacey, who's going on four (and very hyper) and we have to limit how much the two dogs can play.Would be nice to talk to someone who has dealt with this.
And it would be nice to talk to *anyone* who loves dogs and cats (I have two cats also)!!!

http://hstrial-gdye1.homestead.com/mandy.JPG
BTW, here's a picture of my Mandy! Do you see where I got my name from?

Welcome to Pet Talk.
I am sorry to hear about Mandy.
I am not familiar with SAS but wanted to send
lots of good thoughts to your beautiful girl.

KYS, Thanks for your thoughts.You have two beautiful akitas there!I need to get pictures of all my furkids on here. Maybe tommorrow.We take life with Mandy one day at a time.....

What a pretty pretty girl. I've never dealt with SAS, but I know that every day with that sweetie is precious. Oooooh, give her a bellyrub for me, okay?

Thanks Karen! Cute bunny you have. I haven't had a bunny since I was a kid but I have had a few g.pigs. It's almost Easter-your bunnys time to shine!

I'm sorry to hear about Mandy's condition.
I have no experience with it at all.

Welcome to Pet Talk, and if you want to talk about your dogs and cats, you've come to the right place!!!

I'll keep sweet Mandy in my prayers.

Welcome!
I am sorry to hear about your sweet Mandy, I do wish the best for you both! I have never heard of it.

lovemyshiba - Thanks for the kind words and prayers for Mandy. Looks like you have your hands full with your bunch of dogs!

pitc9 - Thanks for your kind words. SAS is a heart defect where a valve in the heart is too small. Both of my dogs are from a shelter. One cat I took off the street and the other from a friend. I probably would have another dog by now but with Mandy it would be too much.

Welcome To PT! I'm so sorry to hear of your pups health problems. I truely hope she exceeds all the vets expectations and has many happy years. Postive thoughts coming your way from the other side of the state!

Mandy is gorgeous!!! I hope that she can fight the battle and be with you much longer than expected. You never know, miracles do happen!! You are such a good Mom to help her in her battle.

cincy's mom - Thanks for the welcome and the kind words. We treasure every day we have Mandy. Right now we're dealing with her weight as she's too heavy because she's not active enough. The vet just ruled out thyriod problems with a blood test. And poor little thing gets ear infection after ear infection. Could be allergys. Right now she's happy as can be chewing on a chew bone. Looks like you have plenty to keep you busy with your three dogs and they look like big dogs also.

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Originally posted by chocolatepuppy
cincy's mom - Thanks for the welcome and the kind words. We treasure every day we have Mandy. Right now we're dealing with her weight as she's too heavy because she's not active enough. The vet just ruled out thyriod problems with a blood test. And poor little thing gets ear infection after ear infection. Could be allergys. Right now she's happy as can be chewing on a chew bone. Looks like you have plenty to keep you busy with your three dogs and they look like big dogs also.

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Our Cincy is also a lab (mix) with weight problems. She is the shoertest of our three, but the heaviest (76 lbs) Hers is not due to lack of activity, she plays like mad. Nor is it thyroid (we had that checked last fall). We really can come up with no answer except poor metabolism. She also has bad allergies (dust mites), and recently went through a bout of pancreatits. Like Mandy, she is still young...2 years and 5 months. We are very lucky though, that nothing she has faced is serious as what you are dealing with.

I really admire you for sticking by Mandy. So many people would cast her side knowing she may not have long left, but instead you chose to see every day as a gift. Truely awesome!


Sadie and Spot are our other two dog...both lab/dal mixes and both about 3 1/2, although born in different parts of the state. (Sadie is from the Ottawa/Defiance area; Spot is from Marietta). Sadie is about 72 lbs and Spot about 52. They do keep us busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

I hope you will share more pictures of Mandy (who is a beautiful girl!) and tell us more about your Lacey.

sudilar- Thanks for the compliments for Mandy and for me! The saying around here is 'anything for Mandy' When she went to the vets a few weeks ago the vet treated her 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the examination room cause, well, 'anything for Mandy' and that's where she wanted to be. Looks like you have three GSD? Two of my brothers have shepards. Is that a great pyreness in your pictures? I really need to get pictures of all my furkids on here,but my husband needs to help me, I'm not real computer smart!

cincy'smom Thanks so much for the kind words about me taking care of Mandy,there is no other option. Can you believe when we found out she was sick at 4 months old(at five months we found out there was nothing we could do about it) But a few people asked me don't I wish she would just die so I wouldn't get too attached to her !! Certainly not I want every day with her. The worst is keeping her from too much activity and too much excitement ,see she has spells where she will get dizzy and even collapse. A few were worse than others and there was one last July that I thought she died. That is how she will probably die-sudden death. It is not any fun knowing that I try to enjoy her everyday as does my hubby and Lacey and two cats.I really thought by posting on here I'd find someone who's dog had this, but until I do I've sure found a lot of nice people on here! That love animals to boot. I'm working a lot right now and each night I look forward to stopping by here.I will get a few pictures on here soon I promise,( hubby has to help.)

Cincy'smom -Did you just put new pictures on? Now I'm jealous, gotta work on mine! You're dogs are cute! I like spot's spot around his eye!

Yes, another member just made me a new signature. ( you can add one by going to user cp and editing profile). I can post individual pictures, but need help doing anything fancy like photo editing!

Thanks for the comments about the dogs. I know I am biased, but I do think they all are very sweet pups :)

This is a very good thread, that may help you with posting pictures...

Picture Posting 101

http://hstrial-gdye1.homestead.com/P9020006__Small_.JPG
Here's one of my favorite pictures of my girls, they were a little younger then and Mandy didn't have all the hair that she has now. I'd say Lacey's smiling and Mandy's laughing!

What a great picture!! Mandy looks like she is about ready to get Lucey good!!! It looks like they get along very well. I know how mine love to play and I can't imagine trying to keep two young dogs calm!

Lacey and Mandy are adorable!
I have two rescued GSDs now, Killian and Shiloh. The other GSD, Wolf, and Great Pyr, Avalanche, have gone to Rainbow Bridge.:(

Killian is no stranger to the vet; everyone knows him there since he has spent so much time with them. He has liver and autoimmune diseases and has had a few brushes with death. Shiloh is starting to see the vet more and more. She was just diagnosed with GSD pannus of the third eyelid in both eyes and now I found another lump that has to be looked at. Just as your Mandy, it is anything for Killi and Shi.

Mandy will have a wonderful life with you, no matter how short or how long.

sudilar-Sorry about your dogs that are gone. Before we got this 'herd' of animals we had a big black and white shepard/collie who at 12 was full of cancer and we had to put him down. All that kept me going then was my two kittys who were babies at the time.
I see a lot of people on here have health problems with their dogs like with your shepard. Good for you for sticking by him also. My hubby and I were just talking the other day about all the dogs we had for years and they were basically healthy, and now we have Mandy and it's another story. And I do see her as a blessing not a burden. So many of my friends tell me God knew what he was doing when I went to the shelter that day.

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Originally posted by chocolatepuppy
So many of my friends tell me God knew what he was doing when I went to the shelter that day.

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Many people on this board are told the same thing!! Somehow we just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

I remember something of a quote by someone (not me).......

When asking God why He doesn't do something to help the poor unfortunate animals, He replies: I did....... I created you.

sudilar-Let me tell you about when I got Mandy.I went to the shelter again to get our second dog . Mandy had just came in the day before one of four littermates.There was two males, one black, one white, and two females, one yellow , one chocolate. They were all thrown in a dumpster the day before and left to die. A man saw another man throw something in the dumpster and when he and his little boy walked by they heard the puppies. So they took them to the shelter.
I wanted a female so I had to choose yellow or chocolate. The yellow one looked just like a golden retriever I swear! I decided that the yellow one would surely get adopted so I took the chocolate one.Not that I minded chocolate either. I wonder to this day if any of the others in that litter has the same heart problem.When I called the shelter when Mandy was six months old to tell them we wouldn't be getting her fixed (it would be too risky)They said they hadn't heard anything from the other owners of her littermates.
So the moral of this story is I guess it was meant to be.

Yes, sometimes it is meant to be. On the day we rescued Killian from death row, I was actually at the shelter to adopt a Great Pyr. In fact, just before I was going to choose her, I thought I'd go over to Killian and explain to him that I thought she might need me more. However, Killian was set to die soon, he was a sickly 69 lbs. with hair loss. rash and on death row. I took one look into his eyes and knew that I was taking him. I did tell the shelter if the Great Pyr was not adopted, to let me know and I would take her too, but Killian was going to be mine. Even though he has cost us over $5000 with all his medical problems, I would do it again in a heartbeat. We have battled each and every problem he has had. We fight the good fight every day. It pains me that I now see him slowing down more and more and his days with me may be ending all too soon. He is priceless.

So, I, too. know what you mean by "it was meant to be."

Sue, I am not sure I had heard the story of how Killian came to you before. He certainly did need you and it truely was meant to be. I think of him often and hope he is doing well.

Chocolatepuppy, Mandy was so fortunate someone saw her and her littermates get thrown out ( I don't know how any one could do that do puppies:mad: ) and even more so that you came along to be her guardian. I really think our pets choose us much more then we choose them.

Cincy was one of 8 pups in a litter. We were looking for a second dog and my mom called to tell us of some lab mix puppies inthe paper. We called and made arranagements to see them the next day. A tthat time only 4 were left. Two tan little girls, Cincy and a another black pup, a male. Cincy was the runt, and her poor little belly was swollen. We tried to get Sadie to help us pick her new sibling, but she wanted the kitten ( I'm allergic, so she didn't get it!) Something about Cincy told me she needed us. Ont eh ride home, my husband found a tick in her ear. A month later she needed eye surgery to repair cherry eye. A month after that she had to have the third eyelid of her other eye removed. And on and on. Like I said before, though we have been so fortunate, while it has been expensive, nothing has been too serious. I fear with her health though, that eventually it will be. And if and when it comes to that, we'll deal with it. We could never put a price on the amount of joy and love she has shared with us and our other dogs. There is nothing we wouldn't do for any of them.