Managing Heart Disease: Money

Managing heart disease is a time consuming, emotional process, but also an incredibly rewarding one by just knowing you're helping keep your sweet feline friend in good health.

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.

Heart Failure? Now what...

Knowing what to expect when your cat is first diagnosed with heart disease is impossible. For us, we knew nothing about Gypsy's history. She came to us as a lost cat. We had been hoping to find her owners and ended up getting more than we bargained for.

We thought Gypsy was a young, healthy cat. When she went into heart failure, talk about being blindsided! In our ignorance, we thought she was having a reaction to some heart worm  medication we'd given her. Next thing we know we're talking about her "options." First on the list was euthanasia.

I told Thomas "no way." I couldn't kill her. We had rushed her to the 24/7 animal hospital (because of course it happened on a Saturday afternoon) and had just finished talking to the ER vet. He told us it could take thousands of dollars to keep her alive and even then nothing was guaranteed. In our stubbornness, we decided that we had to try for keeping her with us.

Trying meant leaving her in an oxygen crate with an IV of Lasix/furosemide throughout the weekend. The medical staff would continue to monitor her by taking blood and x-rays. That weekend cost us nearly $2,000, but she made it.

It was then that Thomas and I made a pact. As long as we could maintain a healthy quality of life for Gypsy, we'd do whatever we could to keep her alive.

This is where a well-placed shout out to the folks of Medvet. They've been helping Gypsy fully take advantage of all of her nine lives and giving her some of the best medical care we could ask for.

A photo posted by Andrea Kilgore (@kaerdna1) on Jan 1, 2014 at 8:49pm PST

If Heart Disease is Evil, Heart Failure is the Devil

There's no mistaking heart failure once you've seen it . Simply put - it's the worst.

Gypsy has gone into heart failure on five separate occasions. Her symptoms have included wheezing/loud breathing, coughing, rapid breathing and throwing up clear liquid. She goes completely limp and won't move. Generally, she hides under furniture.

Our vet places the highest importance on her breathing levels. When at rest, her respiratory rate should be under 40 breaths per minute. Anything higher and it's time to start monitoring. If the breath count doesn't go down within an hour or continues to increase, it's time to call your vet. Gypsy's rates have gone as high as 108 while in heart failure.

We've learned that cats experience heart failure in many different ways. Gypsy gives no warning. It comes on fast and strong. With other cats, it's a slower progression. The last time it happened we had just run a quick errand. She had been with us right before we left and was fine. We left for about an hour and came back to find her in full heart failure.

I've searched YouTube videos and other people's experiences online and have found out that many people mistake heart failure symptoms as the cat being sick but not seriously. Vets are expensive so it makes sense that people might be hesitant to find out what's happening. 

If your cat is experiencing any of these symptoms, get to an vet immediately. Call your vet to ensure they can handle this type of emergency. If they cannot, go to the nearest 24-hour animal hospital or ask your vet to refer a place for you to take your pet.

• Difficult or rapid breathing 
• Blue or gray gums or tongue 
• Loss of appetite 
• Weakness or lethargy (tiredness) 
• Collapse Hind limb paralysis

Gypsy's cardiologist has told us that at most a cat has about 24 hours from the time of going into heart failure till death.

If you're still not sure, here is a video that shows a cat in severe heart failure. It is disturbing and heartbreaking. Be forewarned.

I've never videoed Gypsy in heart failure and likely never will. I'm a complete wreck when it happens and only have getting her to the animal hospital on my mind. A reminder of what she's like in that condition is way too painful anyway.