A Better Life For Jetsam

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A nonprofit fundraiser supporting

Newfoundland Club of America Charitable Trust
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Help give little Jetsam a chance at a better life! Support his PRAA surgery!

$7,850

raised by 81 people

$10,000 goal

Post Surgery Update and Request

Update posted 1 year ago

Thank You!

We just wanted to send out a message to all of our wonderful donors saying THANK YOU! We are ever so grateful for you help with Jet's surgery. We are so humbled by the support you've show Jet and our team. Between the online fundraiser and offline donations we're almost 65% of the way to our goal! This may not cover all of his medical bills, but it is a huge help in covering his extra special needs!


Jet is doing well post surgery. While we have not tried him on solid meals yet, he has successfully kept down small crunchy treats and thoroughly soaked kibble - things that were both impossible before his surgery! He continues to be an active puppy and enjoys playing with the other dogs in his foster homes and causing chaos with the cats. We're hoping to have further news on his ability to eat solid foods in the next couple of weeks!


We also have a request for you. One of our volunteers has put together a very cute thank you card for donors, but our fundraiser only gives us email addresses. If you are interested in receiving a special thank you card from Jet, please, send us an email at mnnewfoundlands@gmail.com with you snail mail address! We're hoping to be able to send them out in the next couple of weeks, but we'd like to be able to get them out to as many donors as we can!

Again, thank you all so much for your generous support! 


Jet with his first 'pup cup':




Help Jetsam Live A Better Life

At the very end of May 2022, Jetsam (Jet) began his life journey the way many unfortunate puppies do.. born into the harsh environment of a puppy mill. We don't know much about his first weeks of life, but we do know that at six weeks old, he and his sister got the break of a lifetime. A kind soul saw them at a horse auction and couldn't leave empty handed. This angel brought them home and then helped these puppies find their way to us, Minnesota Newfoundland Rescue.

While Jet's sister was seemingly healthy, Jet presented with a large abdominal hernia. We knew about this defect before the puppies arrived, but we were not aware that this was, unfortunately, only the start of Jet's health problems. Jet also regurgitated up his meals. This tiny puppy, who weighed a whole 4lbs less than his sister upon arrival, would eat frantically and then cry and whine as he very painfully regurgitated up what he had just eaten. This was not an issue our volunteer team had seen before.

Thankfully, Jet was kept safe, if not well fed, through his first weekend with us and on the Monday after arrival he went into our vet. The first visit still left us a bit clueless as to what was wrong, other than the belief that there was something malformed in his digestive tract. His foster Mom, at a loss to do anything else, struggled to find foods that were safe for him to eat. She discovered that there were a couple of varieties of Royal Canin mousse foods that he did not regurgitate if he consumed them slowly. She also added a syrup and oil-based calorie paste to his meals. This succeeded in getting him some extra calories and helped food travel smoothly through his digestive system. Unfortunately, all these specialty supplies add up. That's when something else amazing happened; our Facebook and Instagram followers came to the rescue - they've donated enough food, paste, and treats to cover almost 100% of the specialty items that Jet has needed since he came to us. This means that since that first weekend, the number of times that Jet has actually regurgitated after eating is very small! That's a huge accomplishment for everyone.

Jet's next vet visit occurred a couple weeks after arrival. We were ever so excited to realize that since his first visit, ten days prior, he had gained OVER THREE POUNDS! While still smaller than his sister, Jet's rate of growth was keeping up with her! At this visit, Jet underwent a barium swallow radiograph. This is the diagnostic that gave us our tentative diagnosis: Persistent Right Aortic Arch (PRAA). PRAA is a defect that occurs when a vessel that should regress as a neonate develops fails to do so. This vessel constricts the size of the digestive tract, which causes foods that are too large to be unable to pass to the stomach. It also causes pile-ups of food in the digestive tract. Both of these issues often result in regurgitation, which, in addition be being extremely unpleasant, puts the dog at risk for complications like aspiration phenomena. The only resolution for this type of problem is surgery. Jet was going to need to see a specialist.

At the end August, Jet saw a specialist at Animal Emergency Referral Center of MN. The surgeon there recommended a CT scan to verify diagnosis, which was completed a couple of long weeks later. Jet's diagnosis of PRAA was confirmed and surgery was highly recommended. Dogs that do not undergo surgery for this anomaly do not live full lives. They are constantly at risk for complications, such as the previously mentioned aspiration pneumonia which can result in a very painful end. They are also unable to grow to the appropriate size, due to the limits the small size of their digestive tract puts on their food intake.

Luckily for us, Jet has some things that work in his favor in regard to his prognosis. His regurgitation since determining the types of foods and feeding styles that work for him has gone down almost 100%. He has very few incidences of regurgitation. This is great news for his digestive tract. He is also growing and active! He has already reached 34lbs and nothing seems to slow him down. Additionally, he is otherwise healthy. He has had no negative reactions to any of his vaccinations and has had no other side-effects from his PRAA.

We think surgery is the best choice for Jet, but WE NEED YOUR HELP! His surgery costs are broken down this way: CT $1700, PRAA Surgery $6600, Hernia Repair $1200, and Misc Expenses $500, for a total of $10,000. We know this is a lot, and this is the high end of the estimate we have gotten, but we want to make sure that Jet's care is covered if he needs extra night stays in the hospital for recovery and that we can have someone home with him for a couple of days when he is discharged. We are so amazed by the support Jet has gotten so far, and we are hoping for a few more angels for him! If you are in a position to help, please donate. If you can't give, please share. Thank you, from Us and Jet


This fundraiser supports

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Newfoundland Club of America Charitable Trust

Organized By Minnesota Newfoundland Rescue

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