Cancer kills one out of every two pets of 10 years old. It's a sobering statistic for anyone who is worried about their aging cat or dog.

On the bright side, charleston is now home to the only vet practice in the Southeast offering a cutting edge cancer treatment called "electrochemotherapy".

Dr. Kerry Rissetto, DACVIM, traveled all the way to Rome for training on this incredible medical innovation. "This technology is very exciting and we are proud to bring it to the Lowcountry," Rissetto said.

How it works: Electrochemotherapy (ECT) delivers trains of electrical pulses to cancer cells shortly after injection of chemotherapy drugs. The pulses open pores in the tumor cell membranes making them more permeable and enabling better penetration of anti-cancer drug molecules to increase tumor cell kill. Animal patients undergo very light, short anesthesia before the 5-10 minute procedure and typically require just two or three treatments, compared to radiation, which can involvce more than 30 sessions.

"Because ECT makes tumor cells more sensitive to therapy, it allows us to use lower doses of chemotherapy drugs, so systemic side-effects are very unlikely," according to Rissetto.

Ziggy was the first animal in South Carolina to receive ECT. The 11-year-old cat had an aggressive fibrosarcoma on her head that had recurred and now wrapped around her nose, dangerously close to her eyes. But after one ECT treatment this summer, Ziggy's cancer had gone from a large tumor to just a scar.

"We were so happy we had this treatment so nearby," said Debbye Graf of Wando. She and her husband had already been through three surgeries with Ziggy trying to eradicate the cancer.

ECT will cost about $500 per treatment, yet it's a price Graf said is well worth it, "This procedure was a God-send to us," Graf said.

Charleston Veterinary Referral Center is one of only six practices in the U.S. to be awarded a Level 1 certification by the Veterinary Emergency/Critical Care Society.