In early December 2017 Dot went into congestive heart failure after 3 years of a mild heart murmur. I found out because he started lifting his nose in the air and refused to lay down. My family and I were all devastated and immediately went to UC Davis's cardiology hospital. We heard about the mitral valve repair surgery for dogs but weren't sure if it was reliable. We were so lucky because we met Dr. Nishimura who knew Dr. Uechi and guided us through the process and introduced me to the Mighty Hearts Project. Dot was at stage C and was doing fairly well on his medications up till his surgery.  

After lots of roadblocks and worrisome nights it was a relief that he made it to his surgery. He was discharged just 4 days after surgery and quickly recovered a lot faster at home. Dot developed pneumonia 3 weeks after surgery due to him eating a bag of pill pockets and throwing it up. His one-month post-op showed that his murmur went from a grade 4 to a grade 3 and although his heart is still enlarged, it’s slowly shrinking in size and we are hopeful that it will continue to shrink. Dot is currently a white fur ball of uncontrollable energy. We are all so grateful for the opportunity to save Dot's little big heart and are thankful for Dr. Masami Uechi and all of the support that was given to us. 

-Kate Lim

Breed: Maltese
Age: 9
Diagnosis Stage: C
Surgery Date: July 23rd, 2018
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Owner: Kate Lim
Primary Veterinarian: Dr. Shannon Leggieri, Claremont Veterinary Hospital
Cardiologist: Dr. Satoko Nishimura & Dr. Kate Woodruff
Surgical Team: Dr. Masami Uechi, Jasmine Cardiovascular Medical Center