We are so relieved to receive the news, from Debbie and Danny, that little Cheesecake got through her heart surgery, got through her recovery time and even got to have a little cuddle with Dad and Mum too.
The operation went very well even though there was a "moment" when Cheesecake/Piku's heart rate dropped dramatically under anesthetic but thanks to the expertise and care of the amazing vets team working on her, they managed to stabilise her and continue. Mum Debbie said 'Even holding her this evening I can feel her heart beat is less erratic'.
What a brave and heroic girl our baby Piku is.
All going well overnight she could be discharged tomorrow and be on her way home to Galway where her big sister Millie is waiting to welcome her. It looks like Cheesecake will get to celebrate her 1st birthday in style along with her siblings this September. No doubt Diva of the Day as always.
Our thanks to our vets A Country Practice Vet Clinic for picking up on Cheesecakes diagnosis so early on.
Thanks to Debbie and Paddy who adopted her knowing that they may have a challenge and worry ahead and for loving our little girl unconditionally.
Thanks to the amazing, gifted surgeons and Staff at Northern Ireland Vet Specialists for taking such great care of Cheesecake.
And once again, thanks to everyone who made this possible through their generous donations.
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23rd July 2025
We need your help for an emergency fundraiser. Many of you may remember little Blancmange who, arrived into our sanctuary September 2024 from the streets and, gave birth a few days later to 8 babies. They all grew into beautiful pups and found the most amazing, loving homes as did mum Blancmange.
On one of the puppies routine vaccinations our vet detected quite a severe heart murmur in one of the pups. Cheesecake (now known as Pika) was always the smallest and remained less than half the size of her siblings.
Cheesecake was homed to the lovely Deborah and Danny with their dog Millie and we informed them of Cheesecakes condition. It was still too early to tell if the suspected hole in her heart would close over but we promised that we would bring Cheesecake back into our vets for another check up when she was 6 months old and that we would stand over any treatment. She was and would remain our responsibility, all 2kg of her and only 10months old now.
We kept in touch and in June we decided that it was a good time for Cheesecake to revisit our vets to see if there had been any changes with her heart. Sadly it wasn't to be and now we had to step up our game. A couple of weeks ago Cheesecake was referred to and visited Northern Ireland Veterinary Specialists, who specialize in heart surgery on dogs, for tests and scans to see exactly where the problem lay and how great a risk it was to little Cheesecake. The results were as our vet had thought and without surgery Cheesecake will more than likely not see her first birthday without a life saving operation. But the prognosis was good with a 95% success rate that will give Cheesecake a long and normal life.
Let us quickly explain Cheesecakes condition.
Cheesecake has a hole between her Aorta and Pulmonary artery that normally closes as puppies take their first breath. That hasn't happened so unoxygenated blood is leaking into the oxygenated area causing an imbalance in her heart, added pressure and low oxygen levels. The operation she will undergo on July 24th has a 95% success rate of giving Cheesecake a long and normal life which we all agree is what she deserves.
However, her operation is costing a minimum of €5000 which we agreed to stand over at the time of her adoption should this day come. And now here it is.
Cheesecake is our priority but we now have to find these funds. Her Mum and Dad are hard at work trying to fundraise also. In order to raise the funds for Cheesecakes upcoming life changing operation this Thursday we will be running an extra special Auction in her name between Friday 1st August and Sunday 3rd August over on our Auction page https://www.facebook.com/share/157oxWKQpQe/ with some fabulous items up for grabs.
We have also added a Go Fund Me link in the hope that anyone who follows our work can donate whatever they can to save Cheesecakes heart.
We are forever grateful for any support you may be able to give and we promise to keep everyone updated.
Thank you
