NEW YORK – Brute, a German shepherd, lay anesthetized on an operating table, his hairy chest under a
plastic cover and his powerful paws taped immobile. "Here comes the wire up the artery!" said Dr.
Chick Weisse, who infused the dog's cancerous liver with chemotherapy via a catheter at the century-
old Animal Medical Center in Manhattan in an effort to "buy him some time." Brute was home in days,
the cancer at bay a while longer — perhaps eight months. The cost: $2,000. Around the nation,
veterinarians are practicing ever more advanced medicine on the nation's 77 million dogs, 90 million
cats and a myriad of other animals — treatments that vie with the best of human medicine. The driving
force is "the changing role of the pet in our society," said Dr. Patty Khuly, a veterinarian at Miami's
Sunset Animal Clinic. The bottom line for many people, she said, is that investing in a pet's life
"improves the quality of a human life immeasurably more than, say, buying a luxury car." In a
radiation suite at the Animal Medical Center, a black cat named Muka was undergoing a CT scan for a
lung problem. A medical team hovered over the tranquilized animal, injecting contrast dye and poring
over digital readouts to diagnose the problem: chronic pleural fibrosis. The new, half-million-dollar
Toshiba Aquilion — one of the latest, fastest 3D imaging scanners — was a gift from an owner whose
pet was saved at the AMC, a not-for-profit research and teaching facility. The AMC offers 24-hour
emergency care using once-unthinkable procedures like heart surgeries, MRIs and ultrasounds. It
has a staff of 81 vets, including 27 certified in fields such as radiology, endoscopy, neurology,
cardiology and oncology.
They train 18 interns and 24 residents, including two from Italy and one from Croatia this year. Khuly,
who has an MBA and a veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania, says more people have
come to believe that investing in their pets' health enriches their own lives. And that, she says, has
prompted young vets to enter specialty medicine. The result is the kind of cutting-edge care the AMC
gives to a mammoth Bernese mountain dog named Alpha for his lumbo-sacral disease, marked by
excruciating back pain. He receives electrical neuromuscular stimulation via a light laser, is
exercised on an underwater treadmill and lies under a heat pack. Alpha comes in twice a week with
his owner, Dr. Paul Greengard, winner of a 2000 Nobel Prize for research on the human nervous
system. Though many Americans don't get the kind of care their pets do, there are often no limits to
what they'll do to save the animals — spending $12 billion last year paying veterinary bills, according
to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. That's about double what owners
spent a decade earlier. In some cases, advanced medicine perfected on pets leads to procedures
then applied to humans.
The AMC says animals' painful arthritic joints are now being healed with stem cell transplants not yet
approved for humans. The cost: $4,000. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary
Medicine, a new surgical technique to repair torn knee ligaments in dogs was so successful that it's
now being used on NFL players, said Dr. William Gengler, director of Wisconsin's Veterinary Medical
Teaching Hospital. Wisconsin also pioneered treating cancers in animals with TomoTherapy —
image-guided radiation that targets only the tumor, sparing surrounding tissue. That's achieved by
pinpointing the diseased tissue with a 360-degree CT scanner, then opening radiation windows
precisely at the needed location, Gengler said. TomoTherapy is now state-of-the-art treatment for
people, with several hundred such machines being used worldwide on human cancers. Among the
recent pet beneficiaries was Scout, a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier that belongs to a family in Mequon,
Wis.
Kathy Hrkac and her husband had bought the dog for their two daughters, "and he was a family
member, full of life and love," she said — until suddenly, about two years ago, blood started dripping
from the 5-year-old terrier's nose and he had a hard time breathing.
The diagnosis: a quickly spreading nose cancer that left him with about one month to live. "It was
heart-wrenching," Hrkac said in a telephone interview from her home. Scout underwent TomoTherapy
about a year and a half ago and it spared his mouth and eyes, which likely would have been damaged
by conventional radiation, Gengler said. The Wisconsin veterinary school at first shared a
TomoTherapy machine with the university's medical school. Private donations have funded a $3
million unit opening in January — the first in a U.S. veterinary facility, Gengler said. He said a
treatment like that for the Wisconsin terrier would now cost at least $6,000. But at this veterinary
hospital supported by academic grant money, the Hrkac family paid $3,000. In New York, Animal
Medical Center sees about 40,000 patients each year, from dogs and cats to lambs, iguanas and a
ring-tailed lemur, a primate native to Madagascar. Some end up in the ICU, with a soundtrack of
beeping monitors surrounding stainless steel cages crisscrossed with tubes and wires. Plexiglas
cubicles are for creatures needing emergency oxygen. Khuly said such sophisticated medicine is
within reach thanks to pet insurance, payment plans offered by hospitals like AMC and interest-free
credit cards for veterinary bills. AMC also raises funds for owners whose animals might otherwise die
because they can't afford pricey treatments. The most advanced pet medicine involves "high-tech
procedures with highly qualified people performing them — and it's expensive," said Jennifer
Fearing, chief economist for the nonprofit Humane Society of the United States in Washington, the
world's largest animal advocacy organization. She said she doesn't feel pioneering veterinarians are
overcharging for reaching to the edge of medical science. Until such treatments become
mainstream, with supporting insurance, says Fearing, owners can opt for effective, more affordable
care that still saves lives.
plastic cover and his powerful paws taped immobile. "Here comes the wire up the artery!" said Dr.
Chick Weisse, who infused the dog's cancerous liver with chemotherapy via a catheter at the century-
old Animal Medical Center in Manhattan in an effort to "buy him some time." Brute was home in days,
the cancer at bay a while longer — perhaps eight months. The cost: $2,000. Around the nation,
veterinarians are practicing ever more advanced medicine on the nation's 77 million dogs, 90 million
cats and a myriad of other animals — treatments that vie with the best of human medicine. The driving
force is "the changing role of the pet in our society," said Dr. Patty Khuly, a veterinarian at Miami's
Sunset Animal Clinic. The bottom line for many people, she said, is that investing in a pet's life
"improves the quality of a human life immeasurably more than, say, buying a luxury car." In a
radiation suite at the Animal Medical Center, a black cat named Muka was undergoing a CT scan for a
lung problem. A medical team hovered over the tranquilized animal, injecting contrast dye and poring
over digital readouts to diagnose the problem: chronic pleural fibrosis. The new, half-million-dollar
Toshiba Aquilion — one of the latest, fastest 3D imaging scanners — was a gift from an owner whose
pet was saved at the AMC, a not-for-profit research and teaching facility. The AMC offers 24-hour
emergency care using once-unthinkable procedures like heart surgeries, MRIs and ultrasounds. It
has a staff of 81 vets, including 27 certified in fields such as radiology, endoscopy, neurology,
cardiology and oncology.
They train 18 interns and 24 residents, including two from Italy and one from Croatia this year. Khuly,
who has an MBA and a veterinary degree from the University of Pennsylvania, says more people have
come to believe that investing in their pets' health enriches their own lives. And that, she says, has
prompted young vets to enter specialty medicine. The result is the kind of cutting-edge care the AMC
gives to a mammoth Bernese mountain dog named Alpha for his lumbo-sacral disease, marked by
excruciating back pain. He receives electrical neuromuscular stimulation via a light laser, is
exercised on an underwater treadmill and lies under a heat pack. Alpha comes in twice a week with
his owner, Dr. Paul Greengard, winner of a 2000 Nobel Prize for research on the human nervous
system. Though many Americans don't get the kind of care their pets do, there are often no limits to
what they'll do to save the animals — spending $12 billion last year paying veterinary bills, according
to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. That's about double what owners
spent a decade earlier. In some cases, advanced medicine perfected on pets leads to procedures
then applied to humans.
The AMC says animals' painful arthritic joints are now being healed with stem cell transplants not yet
approved for humans. The cost: $4,000. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary
Medicine, a new surgical technique to repair torn knee ligaments in dogs was so successful that it's
now being used on NFL players, said Dr. William Gengler, director of Wisconsin's Veterinary Medical
Teaching Hospital. Wisconsin also pioneered treating cancers in animals with TomoTherapy —
image-guided radiation that targets only the tumor, sparing surrounding tissue. That's achieved by
pinpointing the diseased tissue with a 360-degree CT scanner, then opening radiation windows
precisely at the needed location, Gengler said. TomoTherapy is now state-of-the-art treatment for
people, with several hundred such machines being used worldwide on human cancers. Among the
recent pet beneficiaries was Scout, a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier that belongs to a family in Mequon,
Wis.
Kathy Hrkac and her husband had bought the dog for their two daughters, "and he was a family
member, full of life and love," she said — until suddenly, about two years ago, blood started dripping
from the 5-year-old terrier's nose and he had a hard time breathing.
The diagnosis: a quickly spreading nose cancer that left him with about one month to live. "It was
heart-wrenching," Hrkac said in a telephone interview from her home. Scout underwent TomoTherapy
about a year and a half ago and it spared his mouth and eyes, which likely would have been damaged
by conventional radiation, Gengler said. The Wisconsin veterinary school at first shared a
TomoTherapy machine with the university's medical school. Private donations have funded a $3
million unit opening in January — the first in a U.S. veterinary facility, Gengler said. He said a
treatment like that for the Wisconsin terrier would now cost at least $6,000. But at this veterinary
hospital supported by academic grant money, the Hrkac family paid $3,000. In New York, Animal
Medical Center sees about 40,000 patients each year, from dogs and cats to lambs, iguanas and a
ring-tailed lemur, a primate native to Madagascar. Some end up in the ICU, with a soundtrack of
beeping monitors surrounding stainless steel cages crisscrossed with tubes and wires. Plexiglas
cubicles are for creatures needing emergency oxygen. Khuly said such sophisticated medicine is
within reach thanks to pet insurance, payment plans offered by hospitals like AMC and interest-free
credit cards for veterinary bills. AMC also raises funds for owners whose animals might otherwise die
because they can't afford pricey treatments. The most advanced pet medicine involves "high-tech
procedures with highly qualified people performing them — and it's expensive," said Jennifer
Fearing, chief economist for the nonprofit Humane Society of the United States in Washington, the
world's largest animal advocacy organization. She said she doesn't feel pioneering veterinarians are
overcharging for reaching to the edge of medical science. Until such treatments become
mainstream, with supporting insurance, says Fearing, owners can opt for effective, more affordable
care that still saves lives.
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