A baby’s life was likely saved after his racing heartbeat was detected by the family dog—that wouldn’t stop crying.
Kim Reynolds was confounded by her doberman’s unusual “needy” behavior around six-month-old Alexander.
Saraya wouldn’t leave the baby’s side and cried every time he was taken away from her that morning.
The boy later became upset and looked unwell, so his mom drove him to the hospital, where doctors discovered Alexander was suffering with a dangerously-fast heart rhythm—at 280 beats per minute.
“Saraya knew his heart rate was higher than it should’ve been.
“She sensed it,” said the 41-year-old mom. “I had no idea.”
“I dread to think what would have happened if I just put him in the cot and walked away.”
After two days in the hospital, he was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which isn’t dangerous, if treated, but if left untreated can be deadly.
When she went to the hospital emergency room, Kim feared they were wasting professional’s time because the baby had stopped crying, but three doses of medication finally brought his heart rate down and the family was transferred by ambulance to another hospital.
“It was bugging me that Saraya was trying to tell me (that) something wasn’t right,” said the first-time-mom from Somerset, England.
“It certainly added to my concern, and made us go in to get checked.”
Now 9-months-old, the baby takes the beta blocker propranolol orally three times a day.
Kim said he “knows he needs it” and drinks from the syringe himself “hassle free”.
The doberman then diagnosed a 2nd problem
This month, the pooch Saraya began acting different around Alexander again.
“He was in his bouncer and she was next to him, licking his hands, looking at me.”
“My first thought was ‘oh god, are we going to go into SVT again?’’’
After checking his pulse, she noticed his throat looked red and took him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with bacterial tonsillitis and prescribed penicillin.
“Now, I 100% trust Saraya.
“She’s not trained or a registered assistance dog but, every opportunity I have, she will be by his side.”
“It’s been a whole experience. It’s really important to raise awareness. You wonder how many babies have SVT and don’t realize.
“I’d never heard of the syndrome—and it wasn’t picked up at birth or at previous hospital visits.
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