Patient Condition and History
Kira is a five-month-old female Husky puppy weighing 10 pounds who was brought to Herzliya Veterinary Hospital in Israel for repeated regurgitation and progressive weight loss. After a thorough diagnostic workup she was diagnosed with a rare congenital vascular anomaly known as Persistent Right Aortic Arch (PRAA).
PRAA is a developmental malformation of the major blood vessels surrounding the heart that creates an abnormal ring around the esophagus. That constriction prevents normal passage of solid food into the stomach. Clinical signs typically appear when a puppy transitions from nursing to solid food and include frequent regurgitation, poor weight gain, stunted growth, intense appetite despite failure to thrive, and in some cases aspiration pneumonia with coughing, fever, lethargy or respiratory difficulty. Corrective surgery is required to relieve the constriction and restore normal feeding.
In addition to PRAA, Kira presented with aspiration pneumonia and hypoalbuminemia (reduced blood protein levels). She was admitted to the intensive care unit for stabilization, antibiotic therapy, nutritional support and close monitoring prior to anesthesia and surgery. During the operation the surgical team discovered that the narrowed portion of Kira’s esophagus did not regain normal patency after the vascular constriction was released, so that segment required resection and anastomosis. A temporary stomach tube (gastrostomy tube) was placed to bypass the esophagus during the initial recovery period and ensure safe, adequate nutrition.
Toward the end of the procedure, a PetPace smart collar was fitted to Kira to provide continuous, non-invasive physiological monitoring throughout her critical postoperative period.
Monitoring Data
Intraoperatively, Kira’s vital signs were monitored using a conventional anesthesia monitor. The pulse readings recorded by the PetPace collar closely matched the anesthesia monitor measurements, demonstrating reliable heart rate tracking by the wearable device.
*Comparison of pulse readings recorded by an anesthesia monitor (purple dots) and the PetPace smart collar (brown dots) during surgery.
The temperature trend tracked by the PetPace collar documented the expected intraoperative hypothermia that can occur during prolonged thoracic surgery when the chest cavity is open. Continuous temperature monitoring helped the surgical and anesthesia teams manage warming measures and postoperative thermal care.
*Temperature chart recorded by the PetPace collar during surgery, illustrating the hypothermia Kira experienced.
During the days following surgery, PetPace provided continuous, real-time vital sign displays on a central monitor in the hospital. This allowed the clinical team to maintain intensive supervision while minimizing unnecessary handling of the patient. Aggregate pulse and temperature data recorded non-invasively by the collar documented Kira’s recovery trajectory and helped guide medical decisions.
*Aggregated pulse data during postoperative days, non-invasively recorded by the PetPace smart collar.
*Aggregated temperature data during postoperative days, non-invasively recorded by the PetPace smart collar.
Heart rate variability (HRV) is a useful indicator of autonomic nervous system balance and stress. Kira’s HRV improved by 14% after surgery, reflecting her clinical stabilization and the effective control of pain and infection during recovery.
*Heart rate variability (HRV) data during post-op days recorded by the PetPace wearable.
Discussion
Intensive monitoring of critically ill veterinary patients demands significant time and staffing. For Kira, close observation was essential because of the complexity of the PRAA correction, the need for postoperative respiratory support given aspiration pneumonia, and the requirement for nutritional management via gastrostomy tube. The PetPace collar was incorporated into Kira’s monitoring protocol to supplement hands-on assessments by the clinical team and to provide continuous physiological data between manual checks.
Automated, continuous data collection reduces the gaps that can occur between periodic manual measurements and minimizes stress from repeated handling. When monitoring systems record frequently and unobtrusively, clinicians have a more accurate, objective picture of the patient’s true condition, enabling timely interventions and evidence-based adjustments to therapy.
Conclusions
Using the PetPace smart collar for non-invasive intensive monitoring offers two clear advantages in hospitalized veterinary patients: real-time streaming of vital signs that supports continuous clinical assessment, and a reduction in the frequency of stressful manual measurements. These benefits can improve patient welfare and the efficiency of in-hospital care without requiring substantial additional staffing.
Dr. Asaf Dagan, DVM, Diplomate ABVP (Canine and Feline practice) and PetPace Chief Veterinarian, observed, “Using the PetPace collar for in-house intensive patient monitoring improves medical care while avoiding the increase in resources that would otherwise be required for frequent manual measurements.”
Dr. Shahar Baruch, owner of Herzliya Veterinary Hospital and Kira’s attending veterinarian, added, “We routinely use PetPace collars on our hospitalized pets and project the data in real time on a large screen in a central location in our hospital. Medical staff can thus maintain a higher level of vigilance without either increasing their workload or subjecting patients to excessive handling.”