ChesterGates help save four-month old German Shepherd Zeus

A four-month-old German Shepherd puppy named Zeus has been saved by specialist vets at an animal hospital near Chester after he suffered near fatal heart failure.

Owner Mikayla Ozder, from Telford, became very worried about Zeus.

As the weeks progressed he didn’t put on any weight, no matter what food she gave him.

He was struggling to climb on the sofa by 16 weeks and would sleep on her all the time, making little grunting noises that she put down to puppy sounds – though his breathing was significantly quicker than it should have been.

Seeing no improvement, Mrs Ozder speedily put Zeus into her car and drove him to her local Haygate Veterinary Centre, where he was diagnosed with a heart murmur.

As a result, the local vets recommended that Zeus be quickly taken to the regional ChesterGates specialist animal hospital.

Upon admission, ChesterGates Specialist Animal Cardiologist, Liz Bode, examined Zeus carefully using a high-tech ultrasound scanner.

She identified that Zeus had life-threatening heart failure, caused by ‘patent ductus arteriosus’.

This congenital heart defect, present from birth, is where there is a persistent opening between the two major blood vessels leading from the heart.

Zeus’s condition required urgent action, so the ChesterGates team first worked hard to stabilise the puppy, then prepare him for surgery.

In a high-tech operation, and reducing the risk and recovery of open-chest surgery, Zeus underwent a minimally invasive procedure using ChesterGates cutting-edge Amplatz Canine Duct Occluder and fluoroscopy equipment.

Here a tiny ‘intelligent’ self-expanding device, the size of a 5p coin, was inserted into Zeus’s heart using keyhole surgery, to close the ‘patent ductus arteriosus’.

Taking two hours, and involving two specialists, the surgery was a great success. As the procedure was conducted with such acute precision, Zeus was discharged the next day, much to the relief and joy of his family.

From this time he has made a remarkable recovery, and within days was back to being a normal puppy. 

Mrs Ozder said: “We got Zeus at eight weeks to be my disability support dog. We thought his back end was weak and thought he had hip dysplasia. But at the Haygate vet’s emergency appointment they told me – it’s not his hips, it’s his heart!

He was referred to ChesterGates where they admitted him straight away and diagnosed heart failure. I was heartbroken at the thought of losing him – especially with him being so young.

The surgery went as well as it could have. They saved his life. His heart is still damaged and he will be on medication for life. But he’s like a different dog since the day we got him home. He’s so full of life and has a great future ahead of him. I don’t know what I would do without him. He’s my best friend.” 

Liz Bode said: “If the procedure had not been performed, Zeus would have died within weeks from heart failure. And if open-chest surgery had been performed it would have come with much greater risks and a significantly longer recovery time – which would have included a period of hospitalisation.”