DOGS. MOVING FORWARD. KETCHUP IS HIS NAME. A FIVE YEAR OLD GRAND CHAMPION BOXER. HE NEARLY DIED EARLY FROM A UNIQUE FORM OF VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIA FOUND IN BOXERS RUNNING THE FENCE LINE HERE BEHIND ME. HE WOULD COLLAPSE. HE COLLAPSED TWICE. TAMARA HOPKINS SAYS TWO OF KETCHUP’S LITTERMATES ALREADY DIED FROM HEART DISEASE WHEN THEY WERE ONLY THREE AND A HALF YEARS OLD. SO SHE WAS LED TO PURDUE UNIVERSITY TO SEE VETERINARY CARDIOLOGIST DOCTOR LUIS DOS SANTOS. THEY DISCOVERED THAT KETCHUP’S UNIQUE FORM OF ARRHYTHMIA WAS FOUND BOTH IN BOXERS AND HUMANS. HE HAD A VERY UNIQUE COMPONENT OF HIS DISEASE THAT WAS VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT THEY SEE IN PEOPLE, AND WE COMMONLY DON’T SEE IN DOGS. SANTOS FORMED THE TEAM OF CARDIOLOGISTS FOR BOTH ANIMALS AND HUMANS TO CONDUCT A HEART PROCEDURE ON KETCHUP, A FIRST OF ITS KIND. AFTER THREE YEARS OF RESEARCH, THEY DID A CT SCAN OF HIS HEART. AND THEN THAT WAS 24 HOURS BEFORE SURGERY. THEY SENT IT OFF TO 4 OR 5 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, DIFFERENT CARDIOLOGISTS TO GO OVER THE CT, SCAN THEMSELVES AND MAP OUT A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEXT DAY TO OPERATE ON HIM. HE STUDIED THE ANATOMY OF HIS HEART, IDENTIFY BEFORE THE SURGERY WHERE THE ARRHYTHMIA WAS COMING FROM. SO WE HAD THE PRECISE GOAL AND TARGET FOR THE PROCEDURE. IT’S BEEN A MONTH SINCE THE SUCCESSFUL PROCEDURE. SANTOS SAYS IT WAS AN EYE OPENER FOR DOGS AND HUMANS WITH HEART DISEASE. WE EXPECT THAT THIS CAN BE A GAME CHANGER FOR BOXERS OR ANY OTHER DOG WITH VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS. IMPROVE THIS TECHNIQUE THAT WOULD BENEFIT ULTIMATELY NOT JUST MY PATIENTS THAT CANNOT CANINE PATIENTS, BUT ALSO HUMAN PATIENTS WITH SIMILAR DISEASE. EVERY TIME I THINK ABOUT DOCTOR DOS SANTOS, I CRY. I MEAN, HE SAVED MY BOY’S LIFE. KETCHUP’S OWNER SAYS SHE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR HIS HEART EVERY 90 DAYS. COVERING FAYETTE COUNTY.
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News We Love: Dog has first-of-its-kind heart procedure at Purdue University
Ketchup is his name, a Grand Champion show dog, who frightened his owner after collapsing on her property.”Running the fence line behind me, he collapsed twice,” Tamara Hopkins said.Hopkins said her 5-year-old Boxer was found with a unique form of arrhythmia found more commonly in humans than in dogs, based on what she was told by doctors at Purdue University.That’s where a three-year study of this unique form of arrhythmia was already underway, led by Dr. Luis Dos Santos.”He had a very unique component of his disease, very similar to what they see in people, and we don’t commonly see in dogs,” Dos Santos said.A team of cardiologists for humans and animals was assembled to conduct a first-of-its-kind procedure on Ketchup.”They did a CT scan of his heart. That was 24 hours before surgery. They sent it off to four or five different countries, different cardiologists, to go over the CT scan themselves and map out a blueprint for the next day to operate on him,” Hopkins said.Dos Santos said it was eye-opening to help address heart disease in humans and dogs moving forward.”We expect that this can be a game-changer for Boxers or any other dogs with ventricular arrhythmia, and improve this technique that will benefit not just my patients, K-9 patients, but also human patients with similar disease,” Dos Santos said.Ketchup’s owner says she will continue to monitor his heart every 90 days.”Every time I think about Dr. Dos Santos, I cry,” Hopkins said. “He saved my boy’s life.”
Ketchup is his name, a Grand Champion show dog, who frightened his owner after collapsing on her property.
“Running the fence line behind me, he collapsed twice,” Tamara Hopkins said.
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Hopkins said her 5-year-old Boxer was found with a unique form of arrhythmia found more commonly in humans than in dogs, based on what she was told by doctors at Purdue University.
That’s where a three-year study of this unique form of arrhythmia was already underway, led by Dr. Luis Dos Santos.
“He had a very unique component of his disease, very similar to what they see in people, and we don’t commonly see in dogs,” Dos Santos said.
A team of cardiologists for humans and animals was assembled to conduct a first-of-its-kind procedure on Ketchup.
“They did a CT scan of his heart. That was 24 hours before surgery. They sent it off to four or five different countries, different cardiologists, to go over the CT scan themselves and map out a blueprint for the next day to operate on him,” Hopkins said.
Dos Santos said it was eye-opening to help address heart disease in humans and dogs moving forward.
“We expect that this can be a game-changer for Boxers or any other dogs with ventricular arrhythmia, and improve this technique that will benefit not just my patients, K-9 patients, but also human patients with similar disease,” Dos Santos said.
Ketchup’s owner says she will continue to monitor his heart every 90 days.
“Every time I think about Dr. Dos Santos, I cry,” Hopkins said. “He saved my boy’s life.”
