Vets use experimental fish skin graft to save a dog suffering from severe burns after house fire
- A family pet was helped by experimental skin grafts from descaled cod skin
- The grafts shielded the dog, Stella, against infection and helped grow new skin
- Methods will be presented next month as a new way to help animals in need
Researchers say grafting a dog with fish skin may have helped save her life and could help illuminate the benefit of a new method of animal care.
After narrowly escaping a deadly house fire, veterinarians at Michigan State University (MSU) Veterinary Medical Center say Stella, a 1-year-old Rottweiler, was left fighting for her life.
The family pet was left with second and third-degree burns over 10 percent of her body and was fighting off severe respiratory problems due to smoke inhalation and her eyes were covered in ulcers and scarred do to heat exposure, they say.
Stella’s results may help other veterinarians in treating injured animals which is why the team at MSU will present their results next month
As doctors worked to stabilize here by providing her with oxygen and stabilizing burns in her trachea and lungs, a soft tissue team at MSU went to work in trying to repair Stella’s skin.
Ordinarily, skin grafts would require anesthesia, but for Stella, that wasn’t an option.
‘We had to get creative with her burns because of the significant trauma to Stella’s lungs,’ said Brea Sandness, a veterinarian and surgical resident at MSU in a statement.
‘She wasn’t a great candidate for anesthesia because of her respiratory injuries.’
There was, however, a procedure that Stella could undergo, the veterinarians decided — a new experimental skin graft using descaled cod skin.
The tissue, according to scientists, provides several benefits.
Cod skin goes beyond other grafts which come from Tilapia. Instead of just protecting the burned area, Cod skin facilitates new skin cell growth
For one, due to the high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, the tissue works as both an anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic, helping skin heal and protect itself from infection.
Secondly, the researchers say the grafts don’t require sedation which strains the respiratory systems in animals and humans.
Stella was saved by vets who used cod skin to help regenerate tissue and guard against infection an burns
‘We were able to place them on her with minimal sedation, which not only allowed us to heal her without additional stress to her lungs, but improved the way her burns healed,’ Sandness said.
The use of cod skin also have an edge of other similar grafts used from fish skin like Tilapia.
While Tilapia can be applied over burns, protecting the skin underneath as it heals, Cod skin helps to shield burns while also forming new skin cells.
Stella’s grafts, say the veterinarians, were absorbed to form new skin.
Researchers hope the method could help future veterinarians to help animals and will present their results at the Society of Veterinary Soft Tissue Surgery convention in June.
‘Stella’s case is an inspiration, and her grafts have the potential to be a new and highly effective treatment tool in the veterinary profession,’ Sandness said.
‘She’s a living example that the fire within her burned stronger than the fire that injured her.’