Ferret fitted with pacemaker.

A ferret named Zelda is recovering at home after being fitted with a pacemaker during a rare surgery at Kansas State University. Surgeons say it’s the first time they’ve performed this type of procedure on a ferret, which required the use of special wires, given her small size, to bring energy from the pacemaker to the heart. The ferret named Zelda had a third-degree block in her heart, which caused a low heart beat and a lack of energy – but, thanks to the ground-breaking surgery, she’s expected to live out a full ferret lifespan of around ten years. The university ran a series of tests, which determined that Zelda was a good candidate for a pacemaker, although it had to be specially ordered because of the small size of her veins.As with a human patient, this condition called for the implantation of a pacemaker to help increase Zelda’s heartbeat and provide her a good quality of life. According to Emily Klocke, clinical associate professor of small animal surgery, the pacemaker is the same that would be used for a human but with special leads – the wires that bring energy from the machine to the heart muscle.source