Pacemaker for dog with severely damaged heart saves its life
15 May 2015
A village in the UK pitched in to save the life of Alice a Springer Spaniel with a severely damaged heart.
Three year-old-Alice was given only days to live by vets when they discovered that her heart was so severely damaged that she was surviving on only a third of it's capacity that that was still functioning.
Vets told her devastated owners Siouxie and Richard Nelson that only surgery to install a pacemaker could save her. As the £3,680 cost of the pacemaker and surgery was beyond their means, the couple feared their beloved pet would die.
According to Siouxie, Alice was normally "so lively" and was obsessed with playing with her tennis balls, but suddenly, she lost interest.
Then she started to faint, which was really distressing, Siouxie added.
Siouxie, 26, turned to a fundraising site in desperation and with friends and family contributing, the fund to save Alice had attracted over £2,000.
Siouxie's plight spread fast in the village of Woodhouse Eaves, Leicestershire, and friends and neighbours and other generous locals chipped in with over £2,000 to save Alice.
Alice has now fully recovered from her operation.
Siouxie said she did not know dogs could have pacemakers. She said she never thought a lively young pup would need one.
According to nurse Laura Dickenson from the Veterinary Cardiorespiratory Centre in Kenilworth, Warks, Alice was a great patient and her surgery thankfully went well. She said the staff were very pleased with her recovery.
A change in your pet's exercise levels, breathing or coughing or any signs of collapsing, like Alice, could signal heart problems, Dickenson said.
If your pet was experiencing these, they needed to be referred a specialist veterinary cardiologist at the earliest, she added.
