"Marie's Broken Heart"
MARIE HAS A HOLE IN HER HEART....
Photo: February 2010 - Age 8 months
First let's meet Marie...
She was born in June 2009 to a mom cat living at a boarding facility. The owner of the mom cat did not know she was pregnant and was in the process of moving. We agreed to take them to adoptions in the hopes of finding them homes. As the weeks passed we couldn't stand seeing these 4 kittens and mom live in one cage. So, one of our fosters took in the kittens.
Marie is so very sweet and affectionate. But when you pick her up you can actually FEEL the heart malfunctioning. It goes swish-swish instead of lub-dub.......... SHE COULD DIE IN A MATTER OF MONTHS we just don't know.
FEBRUARY 2010: Marie was oh so carefully spayed. All went well and there were no complications. This surgery was postponed until now in the hopes that the heart murr murr would go away on it's own. Sadly it did not nor did it lessen. She is about the size of a 4 month old cat even though she is over 8 months old. This is not a good sign either. We NOW need to raise money to get an ultrasound on her heart to see if we can save her life. Please, if you can, donate to help us to fix Marie's heart. Thank you for caring and please network.
UPDATE ON MARIE.......
Posted on Mar 9, 2010
MARIE WENT FOR HER ULTRASOUND YESTERDAY. SHE DOES NEED SURGERY, SO THERE IS HOPE FOR HER. WITHOUT SURGERY SHE WILL DIE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. MARIE HAS A HOLE IN HER HEART AND There are OTHER PROBLEMS with her heart. BUT THE DIAGNOSIS VIA THE ULTRASOUND INDICATES SHE DOES HAVE A CHANCE WITH SURGERY. Expensive surgery!
Next Up: SCHEDULING AN APPT. TO MEET WITH A CARDIOLOGIST AND GO FROM THERE.
UPDATE: April 8, 2010 = Marie has her CARDIOLOGIST APPT. TODAY. Her ultrasound data was emailed over to us so we could take it with us.
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TOWARDS MARIE'S
NEXT ULTRASOUND
Please use this donate button
She was born in June 2009 to a mom cat living at a boarding facility. The owner of the mom cat did not know she was pregnant and was in the process of moving. We agreed to take them to adoptions in the hopes of finding them homes. As the weeks passed we couldn't stand seeing these 4 kittens and mom live in one cage. So, one of our fosters took in the kittens.
Marie is so very sweet and affectionate. But when you pick her up you can actually FEEL the heart malfunctioning. It goes swish-swish instead of lub-dub.......... SHE COULD DIE IN A MATTER OF MONTHS we just don't know.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TOWARDS
MARIE'S
NEXT ULTRASOUND
Please use this donate button
NEXT ULTRASOUND
Please use this donate button
FEBRUARY 2010: Marie was oh so carefully spayed. All went well and there were no complications. This surgery was postponed until now in the hopes that the heart murr murr would go away on it's own. Sadly it did not nor did it lessen. She is about the size of a 4 month old cat even though she is over 8 months old. This is not a good sign either. We NOW need to raise money to get an ultrasound on her heart to see if we can save her life. Please, if you can, donate to help us to fix Marie's heart. Thank you for caring and please network.
UPDATE ON MARIE.......
Posted on Mar 9, 2010
MARIE WENT FOR HER ULTRASOUND YESTERDAY. SHE DOES NEED SURGERY, SO THERE IS HOPE FOR HER. WITHOUT SURGERY SHE WILL DIE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. MARIE HAS A HOLE IN HER HEART AND There are OTHER PROBLEMS with her heart. BUT THE DIAGNOSIS VIA THE ULTRASOUND INDICATES SHE DOES HAVE A CHANCE WITH SURGERY. Expensive surgery!
3/8/10 - Picture of Marie after being shaved for her ultrasound. Check out the pretty fur bracelet she wears on her front paw. --->
(Those are orange labeled cat food cans in front of her. You can see she is small for her age!)
(Those are orange labeled cat food cans in front of her. You can see she is small for her age!)
Next Up: SCHEDULING AN APPT. TO MEET WITH A CARDIOLOGIST AND GO FROM THERE.
UPDATE: April 8, 2010 = Marie has her CARDIOLOGIST APPT. TODAY. Her ultrasound data was emailed over to us so we could take it with us.
Marie went in for her ultrasound on Thursday, April 8, 2010 with Dr. Michael Lesser at the Advanced Veterinary Care Center in Lawndale, CA.The results of the ultrasound were that Marie has an inoperable small hole in her heart. She has Ventricular Septal Defect, the definition and explanation can be found at the link "Disease & Conditions" above. Currently she is asymptomatic therefore needs no special medication & so forth for her condition. We have to monitor her behavior and if we see anything usual starting to happen, or she does not continue to be alert and act like a normal healthy teenage cat, then we need to bring her in for an exam. She does have an appointment set for October 7 where another ultrasound will be taken of her heart to see if there have been any changes.The prognosis for Marie is a normal life as long as we continue to stay on top of her heart condition and get her in for her ultrasounds every six months. Ultrasounds are $395.00 not including exam and consultation from the doctor. Eventually she might have to be put on medication to help her heart out.We want to thank each and every one of you for caring about Marie and for your donations towards Marie's care, ultrasound and cardiologist appointments.We would like to send out a special thank you to Suzann Jones, for donating to us, Marie's first ultrasound at she and her husbands' clinic, Kenneth Jones Veterinary Hospital in Santa Monica. They did find a hole in her heart, therefore told us we needed to take Marie to a cardiologist for diagnosis and treatment.We will continue to post stories and pictures about Marie on this page for you to check in on her. Right now she is enjoying life eating lots of canned food and playing with her buddy Pebbles. (Yes, that's Pebbles from our "Kittens In the Alley" story.)
Listed on this page are Paypal links if you would like to contribute toward Marie's next ultrasound.Thank you.
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UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 2011
As of right now..... Marie is a happy, healthy cat. Who just happens to have a hole in her heart. She plays with toys, chases other cats, jumps high as a fly flies by, climbs to the top of the cat trees/scratching posts and has a hearty appetite. She is petite but oh, so, cute.
UPDATE: JANUARY 2012
There she sits staring at me. Marie is hanging in there. There are no changes to report from her ultrasounds. A normal cat heart rate is around 180 beats per minute. Marie's heart beats at 225 beats per minute at rest. We always get nervous when we watch her running around and playing or chasing around with other cats. But we figure she wouldn't do it if she didn't feel like she could. So right now she is sitting in a cat bed and showing me her cute little bracelet on her right front paw. Yes, Marie, it's very pretty and stylish.
We continue to need funds to help with her ultrasound costs. This is a lifelong requirement for Marie. Because funds are not always available we have had to change the frequency of having her heart checked. We are getting one ultrasound done each year. So, please, if you can donate we would appreciate it.
As of right now..... Marie is a happy, healthy cat. Who just happens to have a hole in her heart. She plays with toys, chases other cats, jumps high as a fly flies by, climbs to the top of the cat trees/scratching posts and has a hearty appetite. She is petite but oh, so, cute.
UPDATE: JANUARY 2012
There she sits staring at me. Marie is hanging in there. There are no changes to report from her ultrasounds. A normal cat heart rate is around 180 beats per minute. Marie's heart beats at 225 beats per minute at rest. We always get nervous when we watch her running around and playing or chasing around with other cats. But we figure she wouldn't do it if she didn't feel like she could. So right now she is sitting in a cat bed and showing me her cute little bracelet on her right front paw. Yes, Marie, it's very pretty and stylish.
We continue to need funds to help with her ultrasound costs. This is a lifelong requirement for Marie. Because funds are not always available we have had to change the frequency of having her heart checked. We are getting one ultrasound done each year. So, please, if you can donate we would appreciate it.
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TOWARDS MARIE'S
NEXT ULTRASOUND
Please use this donate button
Find out more about FELINE HEART CONDITIONS (listed in no particular order):
