Trent is being sponsored by:
Linda Hughes,
Terry Miller

Trent's Story

Trent needs your help!

Just take one look at Trent 's face and see if you can understand why his owner wanted to put him to sleep rather than pay for the surgery that he needs. Well, we couldn’t understand it either, and we have Trent scheduled for surgery on November 3rd.

Trent has a condition called Mega Esophagus, which means that he has a problem getting food to go all the way down into his stomach. The Mega E is caused by a condition known as PRAA (Persistent Right Aortic Arch). PRAA is caused by a blood vessel that should naturally deteriorate as the embryo grows, but occasionally, vessels in the chest cavity, called the aortic arches, will fail to disappear. The right aortic arch passes near the esophagus, if this blood vessel persists in the newborn, the esophagus is trapped between it and the heart. This inhibits the growth and function of the esophagus, thus restricting food passage to the stomach. Trent will have surgery to have this blood vessel removed.

While he is waiting for surgery his foster mom is making sure that he gets enough nutrition by eating plenty of high-quality soft food made into gruel, and that he eats in an upright position and stays upright for 30 minutes afterwards. Trent gets very excited when he sees the big towel come out because that means he's going to get wrapped up in a big bundle and sit up and eat. He's very hungry as it had been quite a while since he had been able to keep any food down.

Trent is expected to make a good recovery after his surgery. He is going to need to learn how to eat from an elevated bowl, and to eat smaller meals more frequently. He is the best little puppy imaginable. At only 7 pounds he is very tiny, but he loves to follow the great big bassets out through the doggie door to go potty, and can’t understand why they don’t want to play with him when he jumps up and bites their ears.

If you would like to make a donation towards Trent 's surgery you can send a check to his attention at PO Box 3056 , Gilbert AZ 85299. We expect his bill to be around $3000.00 and every little would help him.

Nov 4 update:
Trent is home after having surgery to correct the cause of his mega esophagus condition. He was a very brave boy at the hospital we're told! Now he is resting at home after his ordeal. Trent will continue eating gruel until he goes back for his sutures removed in two weeks time, after that we hope to start him on canned food and gradually progress to puppy kibble. Trent would like to thank everyone for sending him good thoughts and drool!
Nov 15 update:
Trent continues to do well on his road to recovery. He has an assortment of t-shirts and fleece vests to wear to stop him from scratching at his incision (and quite honestly just for the sake of it because he looks so darn cute when he's dressed up).
He's wearing a camouflage fleece in the one picture because he's attending Boot Camp to learn how to eat food while standing up - this is to help it travel more directly into his stomach.

As of November 20, we have received $300 in donations to help Trent (10% of the total cost).

  
Won't you find it in your heart to donate to help pay for Trent's surgery?

December 5th was a big day for baby Trent - he went to his "Forever Home"! His foster mom was very sad to see him leave, but happy to know he was going to such a great family. Here's a picture of him with his new mom saying goodbye. Trent is going to be living in Show Low with lots of doggie friends to play with and lots of room to run. He had come a long way from the starving puppy we took in, he had gained almost 5 pounds and was a happy and healthy boy. If he could speak we know he would like to say thank you to all the people who so kindly and generously donated money towards his surgery and recovery.