WATERVILLE — Samantha Fields’ relationship with her foster dog, Addie, is symbiotic. Both have heart conditions and each senses when something is wrong with the other.

When Addie needs to go outside to relieve herself, which is 10 to 30 times a day, Fields understands because she herself takes a diuretic for a heart condition.

When Addie has difficulty breathing, is tired or pants heavily, it is a sign to Fields to get her checked out.

Beyond that, each is the other’s emotional support.

If Fields is sad, for instance, Addie knows it.

“I’m lucky because I have her,” Fields said Tuesday. “When I need to cry, I just hold her and she lets me hold her. She is just an incredible dog.”

Addie is a 15-month-old, 32-pound black, brown and cream-colored foxhound mix. She looks healthy, but in reality she is dying. The dog has severe pulmonic stenosis and tricuspid valve dysplasia. Without surgery costing about $5,000, she will die within months.

But the prognosis is anything but dour, thanks to about 100 animal lovers from all over the country who saw her story on Facebook and gofundme pages and donated $8,000 to the cause.

Fields created those pages and the Humane Society Waterville Area held an online auction, which raised enough money for Addie to have a presurgery consultation Monday at Foster Hospital for Small Animals in North Grafton, Massachusetts, with surgery to follow. The center is part of Tufts University.

“We knew Addie’s time was short if we didn’t get her the aid she needed,” said Lisa Smith, director of Humane Society Waterville Area. “Now she has a better than average chance for survival — probably 85 to 90 percent success.

“People really gravitated to her story,” Smith said. “One lovely woman offered a match gift of up to $2,500. Someone in California stumbled onto the story and offered a $2,400 gift.”

‘A 24/7 DOG’

Fields took Addie into her apartment May 29 after seeing a photo of her on the Humane Society’s Facebook page.

“When I saw her, I just thought there’s something about her,” Fields said. “I love hounds.”

She had fostered dogs in Colorado, where she lived for 30 years, but told herself after she moved to Maine that she would not do it for a while.

But Addie seemed special and Fields felt the relationship was meant to be.

A Massachusetts native, Fields, 56, had moved to Waterville from Colorado a year ago because the altitude there was tough on her heart condition.

She had no ties to the city, but said Waterville chose her. “I was starting my life over from scratch” and wanted a smaller city that was near water, had trails to walk dogs and was a good town to have a dog in. “Waterville was all that and more,” she said.

Like Addie, moving to Waterville “was just meant to be.”

Fields has had Addie for six weeks.

“When I first brought her home, she was very standoffish and didn’t want physical attention,” Fields recalled. “She kind of ignored me.”

Addie had been given up by a family that didn’t have the money to care for her. They had taken her to a vet who detected she had a severe heart murmur.

Fields said that within the first week she had Addie, she was having symptoms.

“I have similar problems to hers — pulmonary hypertension,” Fields said. “For Addie, it’s right-sided heart issues, and she’s in congestive heart failure. For me, it’s left-sided heart issues, and I am in diastolic heart failure.”

Fields was diagnosed with her heart ailment in 2014. Because of the altitude in Colorado, she had to be on oxygen 24/7.

“Because of what I go through, I noticed some symptoms that Addie had — shortness of breath, fatigue, palpitations. I just knew by looking at her that something was going on.”

Fields said the goal when she got Addie was to get her healthy and help her find a forever loving home.

On June 8, Fields called the Humane Society and told officials there that Addie was not doing well. The next day, with permission from the Humane Society, Fields took the dog to the Mid-Maine Animal Emergency Clinic in Lewiston, where about a liter of fluid was removed from her chest.

“She did so much better afterward,” Fields said. “Then I knew I’d have to be really cautious with her. They put her on a diuretic — the same one I’m on. Because I’m disabled, I’m home all day. I can take care of her 24/7. After being put on the diuretic, she became a 24/7 dog.”

‘THEY ARE SAVING HER LIFE’

Fields took Addie to Portland Veterinary Specialists on June 16 and New England Veterinary Cardiology did an echocardiogram. Medical officials diagnosed her with pulmonic stenosis and tricuspid valve dysplasia and told Fields that Addie would need the costly surgery.

She created the online pages to raise money because otherwise there would be no hope. She plans to post updates of Addie’s progress after surgery on the Facebook page, Have a Heart Help Addie Save Hers.

“I decided that this girl was going to live, and she was going to live a long life and I was going to make that happen,” she said.

In her small apartment on Vigue Street off College Avenue Tuesday, Fields fed Addie low-sodium dog treats and gave her kisses. The dog looked as if she were constantly smiling.

Fields noted the several cardboard boxes flattened outside her porch door, boxes that carried toys, treats and other items to her door from people who learned about Addie’s story and sent gifts.

“Anything she needs, she has. People have been very kind.”

An intelligent dog, Addie knows what it means when the boxes arrive, and she scurries to the door.

“The boxes come from all over the country — Florida, Michigan, California. She knows it’s a package for her. I feel like I have two jobs — to keep her healthy and to get her to her surgery, and my second job is to thank everybody for being so generous and kind to her.

“They are literally saving her life. And once she gets her surgery, my job will be getting her a forever loving home.”

Fields said she will keep Addie for as long as her recuperation takes after surgery.

Of course, Fields will miss Addie when she finally is adopted, but Fields is well aware of what her purpose is in seeing her through to that point.

“Honestly, I am honored. The opportunity to take care of Addie is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I am making friends because of her across the country. She’s just such a joy. She really adds to my life. She’s teaching me lessons that I never would have learned any other way. She’s incredibly happy. I realize now, from watching her every moment, that we shouldn’t worry about what’s going on. Enjoy every minute you have.”

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17

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