Vets have implanted the first microchip heart monitor into an Australian dog at The University of Queensland.
It took only 20 minutes to put the insertable loop recorder under the chest of Zara, a five-year-old boxer, at UQ’s small animal clinic.
Zara has been collapsing from poor circulation and the recorder will chart the electrical activity of her heart for about 14 months to pinpoint the cause and improve her treatment.
The $3100 recorders, which have been used in humans for four years, are triggered by sudden drops or elevation in heart rates which is relayed back to a monitor
Coorparoo vet and University of Queensland small animal clinician Stephen Platt said Zara and her sister Zinnie had been fainting from a lack of blood or glucose to the brain or lack of oxygen in the blood.
Arrhythmias, when the dog’s heartbeats slow or speed up, are the most common causes of reduced blood flow to the brain.
“One of them started the collapsing episodes about four years ago and the other one has started in the last month,” Mr Platt said.
“It’s hard to find out the cause because the arrhythmia often precedes the syncopal event.”
The recorder was donated to UQ by American medical company Medtronic, because the chip had expired for human use.
“In humans, they [the chips] have to have an expiry date.
“There’s nothing wrong with them but they’re just past their date.”
Zara and Zinnie’s owner, Anne Aitken-Turner, said she was pleased her dogs were helping pave the way for vet research.
Mr Platt said the operation was the first such veterinary procedure in Australia.
Medtronic confirmed it was the first time one of its cardiac recorders was implanted in a dog.
For more information contact Mr Platt (phone: +61 07 3397 1181 (today), 3271 4755 (tomorrow), 3365 2110 (Friday), email: stephenplatt@optusnet.com.au or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (phone: 3365 2619, email: m.holland@uq.edu.au) Photos are available from UQ images on 3365 2753.
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