Pet nation

Push for cutting edge medicine

Americans may go to extreme lengths to pamper their beloved pets, but they will just as willingly go to extremes to take care of them. In fact, 73 percent of pet owners say they would go into debt to provide for their pet's well being, something Woody's parents Jimmy and Heather understand completely.

Heather: “If there was something that I could do to keep my dog alive if he was sick and I had the money to do it, 1,000 percent would do it.”

From chemotherapy to MRIs, pet lovers now shell out big bucks for treatments once used only for humans. There are even animal blood banks. Taz, a regular donor, lies down to rest, just minutes after his blood is drawn, and his blood is rushed off to save the life of another dog. Meanwhile, Maxwell is being prepped for a kidney transplant, an operation that costs up to $8,000. Comet is beating cancer thanks to a stem cell transplant. That tab is $45,000.

New York veterinarian Dr. Amy Attas says these days, pet lovers demand nothing but the best for their ailing pets. Her business is strictly house-call. She even makes the rounds in a chauffeur driven town car.

Roker: “When you go into people's homes, what seems to strike you the most?”

Dr. Attas: “Everyone considers their pets to be their furry children. They ask me all the time, is there anything else I can do for my pet to make them happier or healthier?”

Dateline Special: Pet Nation Part 1: Our pets and why we love them Part 2: Treating our pets like people Part 3: Push for cutting edge medicine Part 4: Red carpet life for celebrity pets Part 5: When Fido is the celebrity Part 6: First pets of the White House PET NATION MAIN PAGE

Stephanie Lichten understands. When 3-year-old Lucy, her tiny Chihuahua, was diagnosed with a condition causing her brain to be compressed, Stephanie chose to risk surgery to remove part of Lucy's skull at a cost of $3,000. Though the complicated procedure is very new and Lucy is one of the tiniest dogs to ever have the surgery, to Stephanie's immense relief, it was a success.

The breakthroughs in animal medical care are staggering. For example, it's lethal when ingested, but using a form of anti-freeze, that's right, anti-freeze, researchers at Purdue University actually reversed paralysis in dogs. It's animal medicine so pioneering researchers are now seeking FDA approval to test it on humans.

At canine rehab clinics like Dr. Joseph DeLucia's in New Jersey, injured dogs learn to walk again with underwater electrical stimulation and a $40,000 treadmill. He says that veterinarians will give up early, but that the owners are desperate for hope.

Tim DeLorenzo is a perfect example. Since his one-year-old puppy Flashy suddenly lost the use of her back legs, he's spent $6,000 on therapy.

Tim: “I wasn't just going to give up on her, put her to sleep like most people were recommending.”

Still, with 58 percent of pet owners confessing they visit their vet more often than their own doctors, is it too much? Psychologist and pet loss counselor Dr. Herb Nieburg says some things may well be over-the-top.

Dr. Nieburg: “I had a young girl that I saw the other day, was told by the vet that her animal was obese and was in danger. And she wanted to know where the animal could have gastric bypass surgery.”

Roker: “No. A gastric bypass on a dog?”

Dr. Nieburg: “Absolutely.”

Think that's extreme? How about plastic surgery? That's right, a little nip tuck for Fido. L.A. pet surgeon Dr. Alan Schulman has heard it all.

Dr. Schulman: “We have people that ask us for botox and for collagen.”

Roker: “are you serious?”   

Dr. Schulman: “Yeah. I don't like the wrinkles. I want to take the wrinkles out. That's when you give them the telephone number for one of your friends who is a psychotherapist.”

Dr. Schulman does perform cosmetic procedures on pets, but only for medical reasons, a liptuck or eyelift for instance when extra folds cause infection. And he adamantly refuses to implant the increasingly popular "neuticles."

Roker: “What are neuticles?”

Dr. Schulman: “They are testicular implants.”

Roker: “Why? Why, Why?”

Dr. Schulman: “If their dog is neutered, oh my God. I mean, how embarrassing.”

Roker: “Who's embarrassed?”

Dr. Schulman: “Well, the end of the leash that's holding it. And the reason I know it's an issue is because the majority of them want the next size up implant than what their dog had naturally!”

Even Woody's parents, Heather and Jimmy, who openly admit to treating Woody more like a person than a dog, find that one hard to comprehend. And Dr. Attas cautions that taking extraordinary measures to treat pets like people could be a dangerous trend because they don’t live as long as people do.

Of course, you could always try cloning. A Texas woman forked over $50,000 to genetically duplicate her deceased cat and in December, little Nicky made history as the first cloned-to-order pet.

If cloning is too steep, well, for a couple thousand, taxidermy is an alternative. At Mac's Taxidermy in Pennsylvania, it's not just deer heads anymore. Mike McCullough does brisk business with a special chamber for freeze-drying pets. 

Kim Vail brought her family's beloved dog Buster to Mac's after he was killed by a car.

Kim: “This was the only way I was able to get past him dying was the fact that I knew we'd have him forever.”

After months in the freeze-dry chamber, Buster was touched up with an airbrush and presented to the entire Vail family.

Freezing Fido in time isn't everyone's cup of tea, but Dr. Nieburg says it underscores the intensity of our love affair with pets, our desire to do anything to extend our time with them.

Dr. Nieburg: “It's all part of remembering. It's all part of the difficulty in letting go.”

Heather: “I want my dog to live forever. Even though I know most Yorkies live 15 years, you don't even want to think of that.”