As a California Funeral Director, I too promoted Pacemakers for Dogs. KFMB in San Diego, CA did a piece on me for the Helen Woodward Group. I stated that there needs to be a National Registry for used Pacemakers. TSA does not now allow Funeral Directors to ship Human Remains (HR's) with Pacemakers. We cannot cremate human remains w/o first removing the Pacemaker. Many a person is buried with Pacemakers if the embalmer and funeral home do not remove them for a standard burial. There needs to be a Family Consent Form. Families also need to understand that Pacemakers cannot be used again or sent to third world countries.

It's always encouraging to read about advances in veterinary medicine. If needed, my husband and I would get a pacemaker for any of our three beloved cats in a New York second and would certainly take advantage of any new life saving technique. Animals are family members to many of us, their health and welfare are critical.

I donated my mom's pacemaker when she didn't need it any longer.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. If a pet is so sick that it needs a pacemaker, its human needs to have the decency to put it down. For whose benefit do we keep pets beyond their natural lives? It's not for the pet, and it's just plain selfish.

I have 3 dogs at home, and would spare no expense at helping them lead long and happy lives. I think this is wonderful!!

Dogs are valued family members, lifesaving companions for the elderly, healers in hospitals, protectors in law enforcement, eyes for the blind and so very, very much more... if a person is financially able to save their dog, this a fabulous advancement in veterinary medicine! I have spent way more than that on my little pomeranians with various medical needs - people like Ruth are the typical uneducated, clueless, cold hearted "drop it off at the pound" kind of people who have no business commenting on a pet related article!

Today at 8:05 AM our wonderful Boxer named Tatonka died because his heart stopped during another blackout. Yesterday I brought him to our vet and during his examination he found Tatonka's heart to be in a very erratic arrhythmia. I brought him to the LSU small animal hospital in Baton Rouge and consulted with one of their cardiologists. Tatonka needed further tests to check his condition. Within 1 hour he had another blackout, the vet recommended that he stay the night so he could be given medications that should stop the arrhythmia. After spending the night with a catheter installed and intravenous fluids he was in reasonable condition we were told. He developed another arrhythmia and his heart stopped, he was resuscitated but with a very weak pulse, that also stopped within a few minutes.

We went through a roller coaster of a day yesterday and today. We had no idea he had such bad heart trouble. His ONLY outward actions was his excessive thirst and subsequent urination. Otherwise he did not show ANY dysfunction. He had two fibrous sarcomas removed 6 months ago and the pre op showed nothing. Boxers are prone to this condition and I feel responsible because I did not see this coming. He was the best friend I have ever had, a wonderful loyal trustworthy and selfless animal. I will never find any other like him. I wish I would have seen this article 2 days ago so I could have known what to tell the vets when I was confronted with my best friends predicament. We have gladly spent thousands on him and now we have a dead member of the family that might have been saved IF WE KNEW WHAT TO DO. I am so sad, I can not look at his bed and not cry.

If your friend suddenly develops a severe thirst problem get them to a vet ASAP and have an EKG done to check their heart, it just may save their life. Another MAJOR REGRET is our consent to leave him in a strange place with strange people OVERNIGHT. He was so glad to see anyone and wanted to "be their friend", he was so excited to meet other people, animals or anything new. That may be what caused his arrhythmia to trigger the last time. I feel so torn between trying to do what was best for him and what he probably needed more in his last few hours. In his last hours he would have wanted someone familiar with him, "his mama and daddy" wasn't there to hold him and tell him good-bye. I miss him!