"We didn't expect him to survive. He is a very lucky dog," vet surgeon says
Chihuahua Picalina was lying lifeless is his panic-stricken owner's arms having suffered major heart failure in the veterinary waiting room.
Blood poured from his nose as his heart stopped pumping. Veterinary surgeons warned owner Sarah Bethwaite that there was little chance of saving him.
“Everything happened very quickly," said veterinary surgeon Susie Hermit who is based at the Glasgow PDSA pet hospital.
"We rushed Picalina through to theatre when his heart stopped beating. We put a tube down his throat so we could give oxygen directly to him and gave him adrenaline, to stimulate the heart’s muscle and to make sure that Picalina’s vital organs were supplied with blood.
"We also performed cardiac massage and gave him a virtual cocktail of drugs to try and revive him.” X-rays confirmed 10-year-old Picalina had a huge enlarged heart that was not able to pump blood around his body as well as it should.
“Picalina was effectively dead," said Susie. "We did everything we could to get his heart beating again and to make sure that his body got enough oxygen by providing it through the tube we’d put down his throat. We couldn’t just give up on him.
“We didn’t expect him to survive but we told Sara that we were doing all we could. Picalina’s survival spirit meant he rallied and we were able to get his heart beating and to breathe again. He is a very lucky dog.”
Picalina was kept at the hospital for several days before being allowed home. He has made a good recovery but has a grade five heart murmur, one of the most severe there is. As a result he now relies on a daily cocktail of drugs.
Sara was given Picalina when he was 13-weeks-old by her partner Graham, who she is due to marry later this year.
“Picalina had already been diagnosed with a heart murmur and on this particular day he seemed to be gasping for breath and was really struggling, so I rushed him to PDSA for a check-up," said Sara, 35.
“It was absolutely terrifying when he stopped breathing but I can’t thank the staff at PDSA enough for everything they did to save him – they worked miracles. They really are angels as, without them, Picalina wouldn’t be alive today.
“Picalina was given to me as a gift by my fiancé Graham so he means a lot to us. We know he’s not going to be with us for that long because of his health problems, but we love him to bits.
"I’m unbelievably grateful to PDSA for everything they have done to help us.”
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
