First and foremost, depending on the severity of your cat's heart disease, you're going to be doling out a pharmacy's worth of medicine daily. You'll go through cat litter like water... and water like -well- water. You'll also find new fascination in the amount of sodium in your cat's food and treats.
I say all of this to realistically prepare you for the road ahead. It's absolutely manageable, but you'll need to adjust your routine and possibly your personal finances.
MONEY... Money... money...Financially this is not a disease for the faint of heart (no pun intended... strike that, pun intended). There are ways to fund your cat's care, but none to completely alleviate it unfortunately. Care Credit is a well-known and widely accepted way to help pay for substantial bills upfront. However, it works like credit cards do and isn't likely a long-term solution for ongoing care.
There are organizations like The Big Hearts Fund who help those who can't afford their pets' medical bills. There is an application process because they strive to help those who are already struggling financially.
Check with the Humane Society for more tips on how to pay for hefty vet bills. The ASPCA also offers some ideas for helping to get your pet's care covered.
I could go on a whole soapbox tirade about how wrong I think it is for an animal (and people for that matter) to live or die based on money, but I'll spare you that for this post.
The bottom line: Gypsy has gone into heart failure five times within one year. In that time (from vet care to medications to litter and food), we've easily spent upwards of $10,000. This is absolutely not spare money we have. We've made sacrifices to keep her alive but having her is worth it for us.
We know now that every time Gypsy goes into heart failure, her care will cost around $2,000.
