You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Organ transplantation in pets - will it become a routine veterinary procedure in the next Century ?

In human medicine organ transplantation is common and it has become almost a routine procedure for certain types of life-threatening and debilitating diseases. Kidneys, liver, lungs, corneas and of course hearts are frequently removed from one patient (the donor) and transplanted into another - the recipient.

Apart from the technical difficulties of the surgery itself , there are potential complications with rejection of the donated organ tissue by the recipient, and of course there are serious ethical issues.

In some veterinary centres of excellence in the USA transplantation is already becoming the treatment of choice for example kidney failure - and similar issues face the veterinary profession as face the medical profession - surgical competence, avoiding rejection post-transplantation and the ethical issues. However, there is one significant difference - humans can give their consent for organs to be removed from their bodies - animals can not. 

One US veterinary centre, which is performing about one renal transplant a week in cats, has resolved this issue by taking one kidney from stray cats that are destined to be put down by an animal shelter. The deal is that the owner of the recipient cat has to agree to adopt the donor cat. This is perceived to be a win-win situation. The cat with terminal kidney failure is given a chance of a new life. The donor cat is found a new home. Generally removal of one kidney has no adverse effect on the donor..

In the UK the British Veterinary Association has discussed the issue of whether or not transplantation is ethical for veterinarians to do. Provet would like your views and opinions and until the end of January we would like you to send your comments to feedback@provet.co.uk . You might also like to take part in the discussion on Provet's Forum.

Updated October 2013