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They took Gator to the vet and learned that he had a third degree heart block and that he needed a pacemaker. However, they were both students at the time and could not afford one.
"It's an urgent arrhythmia," Mattula said. "If a person had this kind of blockage, she would have a pacemaker within 24 hours."
Now a nurse, Mattula – who has been working in the field of cardiology for about 17 years – has launched a donation program to recycle used pacemakers to help animals like his old friend, Gator.
"I get a lot of patients with arrhythmia and there is a lot of heart pacemaker work," Mattula said. "The exploded stimulators are normally discarded."
She recycled her husband's pacemaker
Two years ago, Mattula's husband had to receive a new pacemaker after his heart disease progressed. But remembering Gator, who died years ago, Mattula has kept his old pacemaker in the hope of giving it to someone in need.
She contacted the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia, who had helped one of her other dogs.
"I have this device practically new.This is interesting?" she told them.
His call led to UGA and Navicent Health, which includes the Macon Hospital in Georgia, where Mattula works, in partnership to recycle used pacemakers for dogs and other animals.
"In the end, it came out a fantastic collaborative program," said Gregg Rapoport, assistant professor of cardiology at the UGA's College of Veterinary Medicine.
The devices are expensive
A pet pacemaker typically costs between $ 3,000 and $ 3,500, while a brand new pacemaker for a human can cost more than $ 8,000.
But animals can also use pacemakers when they are no longer needed by humans to regulate their heart rate.
"Technology has progressed well where most pacemakers still have about five years when we receive them," said Rapoport.
UGA has received about 65 pacemakers since the program was officially launched in February 2018, said Mattula.
She is currently completing her inventory of pacemakers from another provider and hopes to be able to rely entirely on the pacemakers donated by Navicent by the fall, Rapoport said.
"It has been fantastic … and we have an extremely neat relationship with Navicent," said Rapoport.
UGA has received phone calls from people around the world asking how they could give a pacemaker, but for now, Rapoport says UGA can only take devices donated directly to Navicent.
She has already helped other dogs
One of the dogs that received a pacemaker as part of the program is a husky named Agent Cooper, who helped him survive a thyroid cancer operation.
The camera gave him another three years to live.
"It was just great, it filled my heart," said Mattula, adding that Agent Cooper was now healthy and running everywhere.
Mattula and her husband currently own four dogs.
"I would do just about anything for them," said the nurse.
"I know other owners who have the same love for their animals and … when you get a diagnosis that can be very scary, it's very difficult, it's very moving to think that you could lose your pet and that they are suffering. "
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