FAMILY PAY £10,000 TO SAVE THE LIFE OF THEIR PET PUPPY
Young Labrador will travel to London for the life-saving six-hour op
Dexter deserves a chance to live. He is just a young dog
ALabrador puppy is to undergo pioneering open heart surgery to save his life.
Dexter, the affectionate black Labrador, will become the first Scots dog to have a vital heart valve repaired in a £ 10,000 operation.
The lovable family pet was diagnosed with heart failure shortly after his first birthday in November.
His owner, Fiona Kilanowski, revealed the shock diagnosis came after Dexter became overwhelmed by exhaustion after a short walk in the park.
Research assistant Fiona, 54, from Dalkeith, Midlothian, Edinburgh, said: “Until then Dexter loved to run about and could walk for hours before tiring.
“But even chasing a ball made him struggle for breath.
“We took him to our local vet who referred him to the Royal School of Vet Studies in Edinburgh.
“There tests revealed he had an unusual heart valve defect.
“It was not allowing enough oxygenated blood to circulate through his body.
“Most dogs with this defect die within months, we have been told.
“We were absolutely devastated and not ready to lose Dexter.
“We asked if anything could be done to save him and it was then we learned of the pioneering surgery in London.
“It is expensive but we feel Dexter deserves a chance to live. He is a young dog just at the beginning of his life.”
Fiona’s daughters Kirsty and Zoe are trying to raise half the amount through an online fundraiser called Fix Dexter’s Broken Heart.
Kirsty, 27, said: “Dexter is currently being kept alive on heart drugs. Even with these, he struggles to walk and is spending more and more of his time sleeping.
“He is desperately trying to be a pup but can’t be.
“We just want him to get better.
“Sadly, our pet insurance does not cover the surgery.”
The five- figure operation will
be carried out at the Royal Veterinary College in London next Monday.
There, Dexter will undergo the six-hour surgery headed up by vet heart surgeon, Professor Dan Brockman.
It will be carried out with a by- pass machine exactly like that used in human heart surgery.
Professor Brock man said: “Dexter will be the first Scottish dog to undergo the technique,
“We will repair the malformed tricuspid valve to allow oxygenated blood to flow through his body.
“Without surgery he would most likely die before his second birthday.
“The surgery is not without risks but is Dexter’s best chance of survival.
“We have only carried it out on two dogs previously, a Labrador from Nottingham and a Boxer from The Midlands.
“Both survived and we are hoping Dexter will do well, too.”
The pup will have a theatre full of highly specialised vets whose work mirrors that of human heart patients.
They will include two cardiac surgeons, two anaesthetists, a perfusionist to operate the bypass machine, two scrub nurses an date am of cardiologists waiting to monitor him after surgery. Once his chest is sewn back up he will be transferred to the vet school’s critical care unit to recover under the care of an ITU specialist.
All going well, he will be up and walking the day after his operation.
It is possible he could leave the vet hospital 10 days later, Professor B rockman explained.
The equivalent cost for the human version of the surgery is up to £25,000.