Fun-Loving Milo the Labrador

Our fun-loving yellow labrador was having health issues a year or so into his life. In layman terms, he had additional electric pulses in his heart that were causing his blood flow to be erratic. (myocarditis/endocarditis/pericarditis, valvular murmur, arrhythmia, pulmonary edema). He periodically lost his appetite and you knew he was not feeling his usual upbeat self. 

We were utilizing SAGE veterinary centers in the San Francisco Bay Area and they did do all they could for his erratic heartbeat with medications. However Milo was still not well and Dr. Waxman at SAGE Veterinary Center recommended speaking to heart specialist Kathy Wright DVM, Dipl. ACVIM (Cardiology and small animal internal medicine) in Cincinnati Ohio. At that time she and another veterinarian  were the only two doctors in the world implementing an ablation technique that allowed a very high success rate in allowing normal heart function with animals with abnormal heart rates and function.

Dr. Waxman discussed Milo with Dr. Wright and it was determined that Milo was a good candidate for the ablation technique.  After speaking with Dr. Wright we learned she had a very high level of successful surgeries historically and she felt that Milo would be a good candidate for this specialized surgery. 

When Milo and I arrived in Cincinnati after driving across the country from the San Francisco Bay Area I was impressed with the level of professionalism at Dr. Wright's hospital.  Also I was pleasantly surprised to hear the amount of assistance Dr. Wright would have in the operating room that included beyond her: a pediatric cardiologist, an anesthesiologist and ~ 5 other nurses/ assistants. Needless to say Milo was in very good medical hands. Granted no medical procedure is without risk, Dr. Wright gave me the belief that with a high probability Milo would be better off with the procedure than without.

As an end result our loving positive Labrador was allowed a second lease on life. It has been 3 years since his operation and although he does take a few medications that keep his heart and respiratory system in safe check (due to a separate heart issue that Milo had prior to the procedure), he is very much full of life and enjoys the basics of life  every day as if there was no tomorrow. 

We were greatly blessed to meet Dr. Wright and recommend highly any dog owner who has similar heart issues that we had with our dog. The people in Cincinnati are the utmost professionals that empathetically provide a great service to veterinary world.

-Kent, Marcia, & Alex H.

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