Help Rosie Live Comfortably After Heart Failure

Hi, my name is Ellie, and Rosie is my 11 year old cat who I grew up with. She is a feisty girl with so much personality and the sweetest purr; I see her as my own child. She has been with me through so much, including both of my parents passing away within the last 4 years. My 3 younger siblings and I also just lost our childhood dog to a stroke a couple weeks prior, so I need to make sure they don’t have to lose Rosie too. I am 18 years old and nearly done with my first year at University, which I am already really struggling to afford. I live with my boyfriend’s family during breaks because my previous home is being sold and I have nowhere else to go, so Rosie stays there too. As much as I hate to ask for help, especially when it comes to money, I need to fund Rosie’s sudden change in health. Specifically, I would like to raise funds to pay back my boyfriend’s mother, who quite literally saved her life and is putting down everything she has to help me. All donations will go directly towards Rosie’s vet expenses and prescription costs.

Here is our story:

On March 13, 2024, in the middle of my week of spring break, I woke up to the sound of Rosie gagging and throwing up. At first, I thought little of it; sometimes she just eats her food too quickly. However, a few minutes later I heard her making an awful grunting noise and her breathing was extremely short and labored. I ran to tell my boyfriend’s mother who was getting ready for work, and she immediately called off and drove me with Rosie to the nearest animal hospital around 40 minutes away. The doctor told us they heard fluid in her lungs and she may have pneumonia or asthma, so Rosie had to get an X-ray done and blood taken.

A few hours later, I got a terrible call, in which they informed me that Rosie was in congestive heart failure and had an enlarged heart. When they sedated her, an immense amount of fluid came out of her lungs, but she was still fighting. She would need an ECG done and after that, she would need continuous medicine and treatment for the rest of her life if I didn't want to euthanize her. My boyfriend’s mother drove me back again to speak with the doctor, and we decided to go ahead with it because we knew we couldn’t give up on her, even if we didn’t know how to handle the bill afterwards.

3 hours after that, I got another call that confirmed that she has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or a thickening of the left ventricle of the heart, which makes it harder to pump blood and causes a lot of backflow into the lungs. They said her condition is definitely manageable as long as she stays on her meds, but she requires 4 different drugs to help her live comfortably and prevent blood clots, fluid build-up, and further heart failure. Her treatment bill came out to be just over $1435, not including the prescriptions for her medicine which will likely add slightly to this cost. She will need to have more checkups to keep an eye on her kidneys after taking these harsh medicines, and to make sure her heart does not develop a murmur, which will only cost more.

So, my boyfriend’s mother drove us back a 3rd time and transferred as much money as she could to pay everything and took care of the bill to prevent issues with her treatment. I want to pay her back. I won’t let her take care of my cat while I am at University and also have to deal with her medical expenses on top of everything else she already has to pay for. I am struggling to find a job that will balance with my schooling, I have no money from anything my parents owned right now, and I will have to take out more loans for my school. This is my last resort to make it up to the wonderful woman who is doing everything for my fur baby and to make sure Rosie can get whatever she needs to be happy with us for a little longer.

Literally anything counts right now, so thank you in advance if anyone chooses to donate to my cause. I will attach some more pics of her here!