December 2019, I noticed our 11-year-old chihuahua was breathing very fast. I asked my fiancé James if this was normal, he quickly answered no. We immediately rushed Snickers to the nearest emergency veterinarian hospital. After multiple tests the doctor came and informed us that Snickers has mitral valve disease. My heart sank to the floor. I could not believe this was happening. She proceeded to tell us that his prognosis was approximately 8-10 months maximum to live. Unfortunately, I knew this fact all too well. You see, my first dog, Coco, also had this horrible disease and ultimately died from it.

James asked the doctor if there was anything or anyone that could help Snickers. We were desperate and willing to do anything to save him. She mentioned a doctor in Japan, but said it was very expensive and does not know anyone who ever followed through with it. As we left Snickers in the ER the tears streamed down my face. James looked at me and told me “I promise I’m going to save him.” I wanted to believe him, but I did not know how he was going to make that happen. That evening, when we got home, James searched google for hours. That is when he came across Mighty Hearts Project. We joined the Facebook MVD Community group and then received a call from a gentleman by the name of Nate Estes. Nate shared with us his personal experiences with Might Hearts. In that moment, I finally felt a huge sigh of relief, finally a glimmer of hope.

After Snickers came home, we took him to a to local veterinary cardiologist who recommended we take him off furosemide. Shortly after, Snickers quickly went into his second heart failure episode. As we sat waiting and praying that Snickers would stabilize, James did what he does best, more research. The more posts we read, the more we kept seeing the name Dr. Simon Swift in Gainesville, FL. This seemed to be where he was practicing, only a 4-hour drive from our home. On Christmas Day, we emailed Dr. Swift begging him for help because he could be Snickers last resort. Dr. Swift responded requesting us to bring him in to assess him. We waited until Snickers was once again discharged and drove to meet Dr. Swift, the man who would save his life.

I could write a novel about Dr. Swift...his demeanor, his presence, his empathy, his knowledge. Dr. Swift saved Snickers. I know what you’re thinking, Dr. Uechi saved Snickers, and he did. But Snickers would not have made it to Japan without Dr. Swift. The importance of a GREAT cardiologist was so evident. We went every 2 months to go see Dr. Swift for over a year. February 2020, we scheduled a call with Dr. Brockman and scheduled Snickers for surgery on May 28th. We were over the moon; we were going to save our baby. One week after our call we got the email the RVC was suspending their heart surgery program due to staffing. We were once again crushed but hopefully this would be temporary.

Snickers 3rd heart failure episode happened on July 4th, 2020. This one was bad. Snickers was coughing up blood and they called us to come say our goodbyes. I begged the young doctor not to give up. I told him Snickers was going to have heart surgery and to do whatever he had to stabilize him. That’s where Dr. Tucker comes in. Dr. Tucker had been an emergency room veterinarian for over 20 years. When she heard the young doctor calling us to say there was nothing more that could be done, she took over. Dr. Tucker told us that this will be a slow process, but she believed we could get Snickers out of heart failure. Four days later, she did. At this time, we knew we could not continue to wait for RVC and started the 180-day Japanese quarantine. Only problem was we were in the middle of a pandemic. Japan was only allowing Japanese nationals. Snickers 4th heart failure episode happened when we tried to control his coughing. He was waking up in the middle of the night coughing and gasping for air. Our hearts broke knowing he wasn’t comfortable. He was prescribed prednisone by another doctor and immediately went into heart failure.

By this time we knew this pandemic was here to stay and we needed to think outside of the box if we were going to save Snickers. James joined a group on Facebook called ‘Return to Japan’ and messaged over 100 Japanese nationals asking if they would take Snickers from the states to Japan for three weeks. I’ll be honest, I think most people thought he was a crazy person. A man offering to pay for your flight, hotel, and compensation for taking his chihuahua to Japan for a lifesaving surgery? Hmm....I think I’ll pass. Enter Haruno. Haruno was a member of the group and had responded to another person’s question about the restrictions. James sent her a private message explaining our situation and she responded that she had a sister that lived in NY who was a Japanese national. She said she would speak to her sister and get back to us. Three days passed and James sent a message asking if she wanted any documentation to prove this was a legitimate trip. She asked us for email correspondence with Jasmine clinic. After she saw emails dating back to December 2019 she agreed on a zoom call with her, her sister Kotono, James and myself. After speaking for 10 minutes and explaining everything we asked Kotono to think about it and get back to us. The next morning, she agreed to take the lifesaving trip with Snickers from NYC to Japan.

The next 150 days was a series of what can go wrong will go wrong. From the wrong forms being submitted to Japanese Quarantine to having to sedate Snickers most of the day in order to preserve his health. We flew to NYC to meet a total stranger who was going to take our Snickers on a 14-hour flight to another country. We were terrified saying goodbye at the airport knowing this could be the last time we see Snickers alive. The difficult path continued to the last day when Japan announced that anyone flying from the states would need to take a 72-hour PCR test prior to getting on the flight. This news wouldn’t have been a big deal if it wasn’t announced as we were at the airport sending Snickers and Kotono off. We received a panicked call from Izu telling us that Kotono would be taken from the airport to a government hotel and separated from Snickers.

Oh no! Snickers would never survive this! But, by the grace of God with every roadblock was a path to success and Florida did not have this restriction go into effect until 3 days after the announcement, we were safe. Snickers had surgery at Jasmine Clinic on January 12th, 2021, with Dr. Uechi. We received the call from Sayaka that surgery went well, and Snickers was stable, thank God! Fast forward five months...Snickers murmur went from a grade 6 to grade 3, his heart shrunk to pre-disease size, his respiration is 12 bpm, and most importantly he gets to enjoy sprinting without coughing when he sees a squirrel he wants to chase.

If you told me back in December 2019 that we would find a stranger to take our chihuahua from the states to Japan for a lifesaving surgery in the middle of a pandemic. I would never have believed you. But none of this would have been possible without Nate, Dr. Swift, and Dr. Uechi. This experience showed me that miracles can happen and there is truly good in the world. Never give up, the path isn’t easy...it’s full of roadblocks. But the end result, man the end result is so beautiful I couldn’t even put it into words.

Lots of love from the Kay family.

A beautiful video of Snickers seeing mom and dad back in the US after surgery.

Breed: Chihuahua Age: 12 Diagnosis: Stage D Surgery Date: January 12th, 2021 Hometown: Boynton Beach, Florida, United States Owner: Jennifer and James Kay Primary Vet: Dr. Michele Tucker, VCA Cardiologist: Dr. Simon Swift
Surgical Team: Dr. Masami Uechi & Team at, Jasmine Cardiovascular Medical Center