
Support Oogy's Journey to a Healthy Heart
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On a cold walk in February of 2023, an incredibly sweet cat followed me home to my apartment. I gave her a little bit of food and lots of pets before going back inside. Practically every day for over a week, she appeared on my doorstep meowing until one day I finally let her in. Even in the snow, she stayed at my doorstep meowing. I went away for a few days and she still came to my doorstep. She was persistent.
After a few weeks of having her inside, we discovered Oogy had previous owners who neglected her. They threw her outside during the pandemic after having her indoors for 7 years. She survived on her own outside with her brother and her two kittens. Unfortunately, the other cats were not as lucky as she was. When we got Oogy (we originally named her Juju Bee but later changed it), she was covered in dirt and her fur was matted. I immediately took her to get vaccines and grooming.
I made it my mission to give her everything she didn’t have for those years she was outside, to make sure she felt as much love and security as she possibly could from that point forward.
Everyone that meets Oogy instantly loves her. She is the most affectionate ball of joy. She will lay in your lap, curl up on your jacket, or roll on your shoes (especially Crocs). Every night she is cuddled up on me and I wake up with her still in my bed. She truly is my world and I don’t know where I’d be without her. She is incredibly food motivated. If you aren’t up by 7 am, she’ll make sure to wake you up for her breakfast. She loves catnip and dry food, which is why she is so chunky.
The other day, I thought I saw a tick in her skin. Upon pulling it out, it seemed to be some type of skin mass. Upon taking her to the vet, it was made clear that the skin tag wasn’t our biggest concern.
We were told Oogy has an abnormal heart murmur that needed to be investigated further on top of some dental issues that needed to be addressed. Prior to being able to address the cleaning, we would have to take care of her heart issues.
We did bloodwork which would determine whether more testing for her heart would have to be done. Kidney levels were slightly elevated and her proBNP levels. This marker is an indication of stress/stretch on the muscle of the heart. Juju's proBNP is elevated at 239 pmol/L (it should be less than 100 pmol/L).
With this knowledge, we now need to do an echocardiogram and potentially x-rays depending on what the vet decides the day of.
Oogy has a vet visit on 12/5 for her echocardiogram. From here, we will know if more testing is needed and hopefully get a better idea of her condition.
I do not plan on giving up on finding a solution to her heart issues. It has been my goal to create the best life possible for her and to make sure she is as comfortable and happy as possible. The $50 visit for her skin tag is now approaching close to $900 in a significantly short period of time with no relief that this will be the last test for her. I have been putting the vet bills on my credit cards but it is becoming taxing to budget the bills with my current student loans and other things I have on a monthly basis. I was not anticipating being financially struck with such high vet bills.
It is unsure whether this echocardiogram will bring clear answers as to what is going on with her or if other testing will need to be done, but your patronage will significantly help us. Any amount truly helps, as this is an incredible financial burden. I will also be making stickers for her and setting up some type of art sale to help further fund her current and upcoming vet bills. I will be uploading all of the invoices, bills, test results, and overall updates on her as her visits go.
Thank you so much for taking the time out to read little Oogy's story and for helping.
Organizer

Bridgette Havel
Organizer
Oyster Bay, NY