As the owner of an aging pet I sometimes worry about the hard choices that I’ll inevitably face in the coming years. Not being somebody who likes to find themselves in a situation they weren’t prepared for, I’ve done some research about what my choices will be and was surprised to find out that the number of dogs with pacemakers is increasing each year. Once thought to be something that could only help humans, over 400 dogs a year are receiving pacemakers in hopes of making their lives longer.

How exactly do you know if your pet needs a pacemaker? Possible candidates include such symptoms as a slow heart rate, inability to exercise, and congestive heart failure. Once it’s been determined that the animal is a good candidate to receive a pacemaker, it is surgically placed into the neck, passed through the right ventricle, and into the heart. Like most health issues, it’s more complicated than it sounds and often the recovery takes several months before the dog is back to normal. Not only does the dog need to be kept quiet for 28 days so as to allow the pacemaker to be attached to the heart properly, weekly follow ups are often necessary in order to make sure the animal is responding well. One major risk with pacemakers like any other type of major surgery is of course something could go wrong causing the animal to not survive the procedure. In specifically dealing with pacemakers being placed in an animal, chances of a problem occurring is dramatically higher simply because of the lack of control over the pet’s behavior.