We have had Ruby for a little over a week now and it was noted right away that she had a very severe heart murmur and an enlarged heart on radiographs. She is only 3 years old, so I assumed she had a congenital defect in her heart. We took her to the cardiologist today in Peoria and it was confirmed with ultrasound that she had a patent ductus arteriosus. This is a blood vessel in the heart that is open when the animal is a fetus and is supposed to close as soon as they are born. Hers did not close, and this caused a very loud murmur and her heart to enlarge.  The sooner these are fixed, the better.

The cardiologist said she is a good candidate for surgery to fix it. This is done by running a special catheter that can hold a plug up the femoral artery and placing it in the open vessel. This will permanently close the vessel as it is supposed to be. This will immediately stop the murmur and then the heart can work normally. I am happy and relieved that she has a problem that can be fixed. Ruby was well behaved today, which amazes me after all she has been through. She now has a chance to have a normal happy life.

Her surgery is set for February 18th, so we are trying to get a little more weight on her before then. She is a tough little girl, so I believe she will do well, and I am confident in the skills of our new cardiologist who we really liked.

She will have her broken heart fixed for Valentine’s Day!