A sweet dog's pacemaker surgery

After several dogs were adopted during the Mission Viejo Animal Services Center’s December Home for the Holidays promotion, the center was able to rescue nine dogs from Riverside including Daisy Duke.  

Seeming like a healthy roughly 1-year-old dog, Daisy Duke was diagnosed during a pre-spay checkup with a third degree atrioventricular (AV) block in her heart, a condition that happens when electrical impulses from the heart's upper chambers don't travel normally to the lower chambers, causing a slow heart rate, pooling of blood in and enlargement of the heart.  The veterinarian recognized that this was a potentially deadly diagnosis for Daisy, so she was referred to cardiologist Dr. SeungWoo Jung at Echo Vet Cardio in Tustin.  After more tests, it was confirmed Daisy would require a pacemaker to save her life.

This diagnosis and major surgery were the first of its kind for MVAS, but we knew Daisy Duke was a special dog and were determined to do whatever we could for her. Pacemaker surgeries are extremely expensive, but Dr. Jung generously gave us a significant discount to make the surgery possible.  

“Although still a very large amount, Dr. Jung assured us this surgery would give Daisy Duke a totally normal life,” said Animal Services Director Brynn Lavison. “Thankfully, MVAS has an amazing nonprofit Dedicated Animal Welfare Group (DAWG), which raises money for situations like this, and the group did not hesitate to pay for her surgery.”

Daisy’s pacemaker was implanted on January 16, and she is doing great.  Her heart rate is back to normal, and she is thriving in a loving foster home.

“We are grateful to Dr. Jung and his staff for taking such great care of Daisy Duke ensuring she will have a bright future, but most of all, we have to thank DAWG and the group’s amazing donors for making this possible,” Lavison said.  

DAWG is now accepting donations towards Daisy Duke’s surgery bill. For more information, or to donate to support her surgery, visit DAWG.org