Page 3 - Paws and Hooves - Spring 2016

Open-heart surgery may be fairly common amongst humans. However, Mabel the Labrador set tongues and tails wagging when she became the rst dog in the world to have her life saved by the procedure at the RVC Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (QMHA).
Three-and-a-half year-old Mabel’s recent treatment was a world- rst, using cutting-edge technology and equipment funded by the RVC Animal Care Trust (ACT) to reverse her heart failure.
Mabel’s rare, life-threatening congenital condition, which caused uid to build up in her abdomen, needed urgent medical attention. But now she’s on the road to recovery and enjoying a new lease of life at home with thankful owner Annabelle Meek after her ground-breaking operation proved a success.
Mabel was referred to the QMHA by Charlotte Aston of Melton Vets who noticed that she had a raised heart rate, swollen belly and slower than usual walk. Here at the QMHA she was diagnosed using a state-of-the-art ultrasound scanner, recently paid for by donations to the ACT.
Mabel was suffering with congenital tricuspid dysplasia, which meant that the key valves in her heart were fused together and her ventricles only had two very small holes for blood to ow through.
The pioneering surgery was carried out by Professor of Small Animal Surgery Dan Brockman (pictured above with Mabel) who stopped her heart beating so that he could open it and inspect the structures inside. Dan then sliced the fused valve open to free it from the fused ventricle and make it wide enough to allow blood to ow through more easily.
As is the case with so many animals treated at the QMHA, Mabel’s treatment also involved a large team of RVC specialists to provide complete pre and post-operative care. Students at the RVC were also involved in Mabel’s initial examinations, providing them with rst hand insight into this revolutionary procedure.
The ground-breaking success of Mabel’s operation puts the RVC at the forefront of cardiac surgery and this will set a strong precedent for future cases across the UK, Europe and beyond.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled at the success of the surgery. She has come on leaps and bounds. I would like to thank absolutely everybody. It’s been an enormous team effort on all sides. Every single person I met at the RVC, from the man on the gate to all the hospital staff, was so friendly. After she came home, Dan phoned me every day to see how she was doing.”
“The RVC should be very proud of what they have done for Mabel.”
Relieved owner, Annabelle Meek
pictured here with a happy and healthy Mabel back at home.
Paws & Hooves 2016 3
Meet Mabel, the world’s rst dog to be
saved by open-heart surgery