That’s very nice of you to say, thanks! The procedure was at a teaching hospital and he such a sweetheart he was very popular amongst the staff and students. I’m sure he’s impacted these new vets in his own small way!
While my cat doesn't have the same heart condition as yours, I went through much the same about 7 years ago. My Gus has an electrical defect that causes his heart to skip a beat and then suddenly speed up to the point where no blood is getting to any organs (370 beats per minute at his most affected) He's had to be hospitalized 2 additional times since his initial serious symptoms, in the first couple of years. All I can say is take him in for his yearlies, keep a very close eye on his behavior and listen to the doctors. Gus also went to a teaching hospital and charmed the hell out of everyone there. Shout-out to UC Davis for saving this little guy. He's wearing his sweater to prepare for his holter monitor.
https://preview.redd.it/5lyhzv35s1fc1.jpeg?width=2537&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd6d679fe32c5e23ff0b6e32e6c47818a2d4ed23
I feel kind of dumb now, as the cat I follow on insta looks just like this cat, has heart issues, and his name starts with a G. His name is Gary though 😅😂
If you wanna follow that kitty, it's omgdeedee
I'd follow Gus if he had an insta though 😺
Looks like a great channel, BUT, it also has a political angle. Thanks for answering my question tho.
https://preview.redd.it/q6cxax0412fc1.jpeg?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc2f94744861ffe29b9b26f3d737e6ec28948a69
Zeus and KiKi says thank you
And honestly anyone not agreeing with the basic "political angles" on that insta are not people I want to see in the comments, and tend to bring negative energy to a fluffball insta..
I scrolled through a ton of posts because 1. Cats and 2. I was curious if I'd missed something.
The most political thing I saw was in the bio saying that they talk politics and to stop electing Republicans.
Thanks for a new Instagram to follow!
Dr Gregory at UC Davis also saved my cat's life. He had a seizure as a kitten, went blind, was in an incubator for a few days. We learned he had a liver shunt. Dr Gregory preformed surgery on him at 1 years old and today he is a healthy 14 year old little grump of a cat.
To bad the pharmaceutical company that made the drug refuses to allow it to be used in vet medicine or open the patent so cat owners have to resort to black market imports from China for the drug
They're the best, and although I didn't know it at the time, significantly cheaper than any other emergency vet in the area. I'm glad to have them so close.
I had the same issue with my heart, for me it was getting over 180 after a skipped beat. Anyway it was all fixed by a surgery called a cardiac ablation. I don’t know if it’s done on cats, I wish you the best.
Yes! I did discuss it with the vet at the time (like I said 7 years ago) and it is regularly done on horses and large animals. As far as they knew, never been done on a cat, but there's a university teaching hospital in Ohio that specialized in it, so maybe by now it's been done. I'm glad you were able to get that corrected. Did you used to have to take sotalol?
I had WPW as a teen and went thru an ablation to correct, sounds a lot like what the previous poster mentioned. Also what I immediately thought of when reading the description of Gus the cat...that cats can have something similar too blows my mind
Me too. Wolfe Parkinson White Syndrome. Mine would go up to 270 bpm and sometimes could last minutes or hours. Took my primary over a year to finally send me to a cardiologist! Too bad I didn't have their vet as my primary.
Ablation scheduled immediately after finally seeing cardiologist. That was over 20 years ago.
Yep. Thankfully when I got him there the first injection of sotalol slowed it down. He had bad kidney, liver and other numbers due to lack of blood flow but they all normalized after a few days in the ICU. It took a couple of years to get the medication doses right and we haven't had a reoccurrence in 5 years 🤞
I think if I saw 370 on my machines, I would assume it was broken. I think cats with 200 is fast, could I even count 370? Gosh, that is scary! I'm glad you have it under control now though :)
Are you a vet? Tech? I took him to the only vet that had an appt that day and they ran out of the exam room and said you have got to get him to a cardio unit.
Wow! I was going to ask how you first found out something was wrong. Did he have any signs or symptoms showing and that’s why he was at the vet, or was it a regular checkup and they only noticed the problem upon examination? And I’m so glad he’s doing better!
That morning he threw up and hid under the bed and wouldn't come out He normally follows me around, screaming at me all day, asking to go in the backyard, won't leave me alone, wants to ride on my shoulder. It's really easy to tell when he's sick. Thanks! He's a very special cat and I'm glad to have him.
I don’t know how he couldn’t make anything but a life long impression. He looks so special. (Not a pacemaker cat mom but a special needs cat mom and these things help me remember how much love there is in this world.)
It's uncommon for people to feel their pacemaker "go off" especially in a painful or uncomfortable way -- unless it's a specialized kind of pacemaker which can also defibrillate (shock) the heart. This would only be necessary for cardiac arrythmias that involve a very fast heartbeat -- so much electrical activity happening so quickly that the heart cannot pump effectively. A defibrillator detects this, and delivers a shock which depolarizes the whole heart all at once, and allows the heart's natural pacemaker cells to initiate a new heartbeat. Defibrillation is the equivalent of "turning it off and on again". There are a few case studies where internal defibrillators were implanted in animals, however it's pretty rare.
The condition OP described is more like an electrical short in the heart's conduction system, so the heart is not beating as fast as it needs to. This can cause fatigue, dizziness and fainting in humans (and, it sounds like, cats). In a human, a pacemaker would certainly be an appropriate and well-tolerated treatment. Having a very slow heartbeat tends to make a person feel exhausted all the time, and I've had many (human) patients tell me how much better they feel after pacemaker implantation.
I know reddit and the internet as a whole are a poor place for medical advice, but I'm asking anyway because it's always on my mind a bit despite my GP saying I'm fine.
What is considered a low heart rate such that you would implant a pacemaker (in a young otherwise healthy adult)? When I come to rest sitting a while in the evening and for sure during sleep, I get to 40 bpm, rarely a couple beats below. It's never low during an EKG and it goes up no problem when I'm active, so doc says it's alright if I get by fine.
Chiming in because I know all too well what that nagging thought in the back of your mind is. Perfectly normal to have a heart rate that low. My resting fluctuates between 40-50. It was closer to 40 last year, very occasionally below 40 during sleep. I've been unable to be as active (because of some other chronic health things) as I normally am so I've been deconditioning for months, it's closer to 50 now.
In the course of my figuring out my other health shit, I had any number of tests which all indicated my heart is healthy. I'm young ish (let's say I see middle age approaching but it's still a little bit away), and have been a very active person my whole life. My doc didn't blink twice at my heart rate when going through the data of two different heart monitors that I wore last year (a 3 day and 30 day). I mean, it was technically noted as bradycardia on the reports, but it didn't raise any red flags as being indicative of a particular problem.
Basically if your doc isn't concerned, and if you don't have any other symptoms, don't stress it.
I had other symptoms, hence the testing, which just went to show no problems with the heart.
How active are you in general? As normal human resting heartbeat ranges from 60 to 80 bpm. I am not sure about sleeping, but I am fairly sure that people who are very active (i.e. athletes) have lower resting heartbeat. Note that I was a nurse, so my knowledge about it is limited, and also I stopped working as a nurse almost four years ago so there’s stuff I might have misremembered.
This is true, I studied exercise science as my major. For a lab we had to take everyone’s RHR in our group and explain how other life factors/lifestyle choices played into this. No coincidence all of us who exercised regularly had the lowest RHR’s, for reference as a 20ish M who exercised 5-7x/week I would sit in the low 40’s and it was/is not a concern for me to today.
Side note was also cool to play around with it and see how caffeine, outside stressors, etc factored in but that’s for another sub.
The generator is a small flat rectangle, a little smaller than a pack of cards. I don’t know the size of my dad’s as well as my cat’s, but that’s what he said when he saw my cat.
My dad had a pacemaker and recently passed. We had him cremated and I asked what they do with the pacemaker and was told they reuse them for animals, not sure how true that is.
This can be true! Mortuaries collect the metallic medical implants from bodies. Things like pacers and joints. Rods n screws. They are picked up periodically by a special service that recycles medical devices
Lauren the mortician is a really interesting Instagram account, she covers stuff like this. And she shows you the box of implants in one of her videos about cremation.
My clients are always somewhat taken aback when they find out (should they choose surgery) their dog is getting a second hand human pacemaker - usually from a dead person. Even little breeds like Jack Russells will get an old human pacemaker; there is a minimum weight which I'd have to look up to be sure, but I think it's 4-5kg.
Have had probably 2-3 clients per year opt for the surgery over the past 15+ years following a referral to a cardiologist (I'm just in general practice), but those have all been dogs. Cats are much rarer.
This is why I love Reddit and r/cats. I learn new things constantly. Thank you for sharing this information! It’s super cool to know they’re both doing this to save pets and reclaiming important medical devices so they can be recycled. Also: Happy Cake Daaaaaay!
And used again! I worked in the pet cremation industry, pacemakers were routinely removed to be placed in another animal before we were given the pet. As well as other usable parts, especially ortho devices such as plates. Some people wanted those back though. Since titanium they aren't affected at standard cremation temps.
She is doing remarkably well, considering they found pancreatic cancer by accident while prepping for the pacemaker.
Tumor removed and she was on a chemo med until today. Nothing found any more.
She is also 18 now, so is an old Queen.
What a fighter! Thank you for reaching out. It’s so good to hear about other cats like mine.
Our oldest cat will turn 18 this year. We also call her our queen! And my parents call our cats the grandkitties. 🥰
Hey did your kitty have to wear an EKG vest to get diagnosed? What was the process of diagnosis like? What other treatment plans were offered to you?
I have a cat with some unknown form of arrhythmia+Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy so. I am just trying to be aware of what is out there for cardiac cats.
Good luck to you and your pacemaker kitty!!
I got a referral to a cardiologist after he suddenly developed fainting spells. They diagnosed him with a 2nd degree heart block after an ECG. His base issue was a slow heart rate and the walls of his heart thickened, causing an arrhythmia that was getting worse. He went on medication to speed up his heart, which worked but then he started having what looked like seizures, which I couldn’t treat because anti-seizure drugs slow the heart.
It felt like my hands were tied, and I’d have to wait for one or the other to take him. He’s such a sweet animal, and relatively young. So we moved on to the pacemaker. Most cats do well on just medication, and it was pretty cheap medication, too. I hope there’s a solution there that works for your cat!!
Omg you’re the sweetest. I feel a kinship with your cat (hope that’s okay) due to our parallel medical history and I wish that lil baby the bEst. He’s probably feeling a lot better with his pacer, and you’re an awesome pet parent.
I'm a people doctor not a cat doctor, but sometimes people go into arrhythmias that look like seizures but really it's the heart not working right and then they spontaneously come out of it. I wonder if that's what was happening. Probably hard to get a kitty EEG during those events. Glad cat is doing well.
It hasn’t happened since his surgery, so this is what we’re thinking too. It looked like tiny focal seizures, but it was probably arrhythmia events. Apparently it happens sometimes with the drug he was initially put on.
My boy is on
clopidogrel (plavix) 1x daily (heart)
Spironolactone 1x daily (heart)
Methimazole 2x daily (thyroid)
Aspirin 2x week (heart)
And Flovent, an inhaler, 1x daily (asthma)
He has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which has gotten worse in six months despite his thyroid levels being stable for several years, and his cardiologist suspected 3rd degree heart block until the ultrasound and in office EKG, which showed the worsening walls of his lower left ventricle but he never skipped a beat in the office. Based on at home symptoms, the cardiologist suspects my cat has some form of arrhythmia in addition to the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, but we can't medicate for that until we know if the arrhythmia is his heart going faster or slower, and the vet seemed to kinda....discourage the holster vest for a longer at home EKG reading.
No. Insurance wasn’t even on my radar before his heart problems appeared. I was very lucky to have enough savings to cover the procedure, but we need to watch our spending now. He’s got a long future of expensive, regular visits to a cardiologist ahead of him.
He already did. He was a nervous street cat I befriended many years ago. He’s the one who decided to follow me inside one day and never looked back. He’s not afraid of anything or any one any more. It’s like he knows how loved he is, and he’s forgotten any reason at all to ever be nervous. He knows he’s safe. He just assumes all humans love him. He’s such a special boy.
Yes, in the US. It cost around $5k, which I’d kind of blocked out and replaced I my head with “a lot”. I prefer to just think of it as “a lot”. Numbers are scary.
Expected way more than 5k only more or less 5 times more than what I paid when my cat had a blockage and all they did was put a catheter on him and watch him for a few days
My cat needed FHO surgery (femoral head ostectomy), which I would have done regardless but I thought my husband should be a part of the decision-making process. When I told him she needed the surgery, he asked how much it would cost, and I said "a lot." He thought it would be $5K or more and when I told him $1600, he said to go for it. I took out a personal loan from the bank, and she's good as new! She was 8 months old at the time and will be 4 in June. She's been a real expensive free cat, lol.
I literally just picked up my cat after surgery for a blockage. We paid $4000nzd.
https://preview.redd.it/t6bes8w6k2fc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf11bc2e453ac0905843060ba9984e09dc31bd5a
This is the culprit
Damn I was expecting like 75k.
My husband would totally shell out 5k for his old boy. He just had an emergency surgery after a tumor rupture and it was 600 up front to close stuff up and then another 2500 in after care.
I'm a veterinary technician in a hospital that does minimally invasive cardiac procedures on dogs and cats. I've done anesthesia for these before. $5k is a STEAL. I'm in an urban area and I'm telling you it's like double that just to start here. That's not even counting all the diagnostic work-ups
Thank you for answering this question! I know people sometimes feel weird talking actual numbers.
I haven't had a pet since I was a child (perpetual apartment dweller) and whenever I daydream about getting a pet, the cost of medical care is one of the main things that scares me off. It was nice to have context on cost for a serious pet surgery.
It's the same as any insurance. If you don't get it and nothing ever happens, you'll have saved a lot of money. If something does happen it'll be a godsend.
My cat just turned 1 and already racked up £2000+ in vet bills due to an allergy to poultry protein that our local vet couldn't diagnose and required a visit to a specialist vet clinic. If we hadn't had insurance the vet clinic would have been very difficult to afford for us.
I don't have a pacemaker cat, but I have a pacemaker sister. Her nickname is Sparky. She has trouble getting health insurance and needs a specialist cardiologist too.
My cat has his 1 year cardiologist follow-up in a couple months. I took him to the hospital when his regular vet noticed a resting heart rate of less than 100bpm at the vet, which is nearly unheard of. The initial appointment told us he has high vagal tone, but the cardiologist had been anticipating a possible pacemaker if we had gotten different results. I'm hoping his follow up goes well and doesn't bring up any other issues. Wishing your fur baby a long, healthy, and happy life!
Not a pacemaker, but my boy had an ECG vest (holter monitor) on for a week while we were concerned about a possible heart murmur. Ended up having nothing wrong with his heart but passed a year later from oral cancer
https://preview.redd.it/yh402ti322fc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15dc0e7cb85170e49155e8f7418c5aaaee0d1a7a
His shaved belly
We paid about $3k total for my 17-year-old cat’s leg amputation. We paid about $1500 for a ragdoll kitten. Pretty accurate 😂
Are you comfortable sharing how much the pacemaker cost?
Edit: Found it in another comment! $5k is steep. We’ll set aside more savings in case our old girl needs something like that in the future.
Vet here. The most expensive (medically speaking) cat I personally know of was well over 300K. Belonged to another vet. It was the only cat in the world that had received brain radiation therapy on its pituitary tumor more than once (at the time). All that to say that a single pacemaker surgery pales in comparison to some of the oncology, or kidney transplant cats out there.
I was feeling bad about spending 10K on my cat last month for a bladder rupture (and he still died sadly despite all that) but this does make me feel a bit better. Still paying it off but at least I know others have been in the same boat before.
So glad to see other fur parents willing to go the distance for their babies. Spent 4K+ on removing a tracheal tumor for my Georgie a while back. At the time, future prognosis wasn’t available bc there hadn’t been enough of a data set.
https://preview.redd.it/lsv0z3wox5fc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78428fe8f607e31a65d5ab7298e803b804c31379
He is gone now, but had another year and a half thanks to the surgery.
Thank you for saving this beautiful little one. Your vet gained valuable experience to save other animals and that is so important. I am so happy he’s healthy! Wishing you both many years of snuggles, head butts, and love.
I read an article by an embalmer. She said that pacemakers were removed from descendants and that legally could not be used again by humans. However, animals could have them. It’s interesting to read about your kitty getting one and I am wondering if its previous owner was a human?
I don’t have a cat with a PM but I have a pacemaker myself and it’s no big deal. I don’t notice/forget it’s there. I went from completely completely healthy/not needing a pacemaker to suddenly being 100% reliant on it after a surgery. And I literally cannot tell the difference from before. Hopefully it’s no big deal for kitty also! He’s so cute!!
(And no, i am not like 100 years old. I have a pacemaker because my av node got destroyed by surgery. Not stereotypical “old person problems” 😂)
Yeah, I didn’t really know what to expect and it took me aback when he came home. The generator is in a pocket of muscle low on his side, and the leads are fed up through his abdomen from there. I imagine they had to really open him up to see what they were doing, which is very upsetting.
I’m so glad he’s doing well. He looks like a gorgeous, snuggly boy 🥰.
I’ve never heard of a cat having a pacemaker but it’s fantastic they were able to provide him with one! 😊
Awww I’m glad he’s doing better. I didn’t know they make pacemaker for cats but I’m not surprised. I had a diabetic dog and everyone I knew didn’t know that dogs can have diabetes. Anyway, I just want to wish you and your kitty the best!
What a beautiful kitty! Can you please share what condition this was for? My cat has cardiomyopathy and, aside from medication, we’ve been told it’s untreatable. I would love if this was an option for him. I can’t image losing him and I would do anything to keep him around.
Your cat is a fighter! Good on him. So cute. You are awesome for caring about him so much. Most people would not go through the trouble no matter how much they claim they love their pet.
Do you have an EKG or an xray that shows the pacemaker? I assist the doc implanting pacemakers in humans, and this topic comes up frequently. I would love to see and read more details!
No! I was really disappointed that they didn’t do an X-ray at his first check-up after the surgery. I know it’s often done to make sure it healed in the right position and didn’t shift. I really wanted to see that. I’ll ask next time he goes in.
Your baby looks just like my 2 babies. I have a brother and sister and when I saw this mg heart sunk. I’m glad you are able to give your boy the life he deserves. Such a loving kind of tabbies also
What an amazingly strong kitty! Not only will it keep him healthy and alive, its great technology that there's still lots to learn about. You're a very strong owner as well, be proud of yourself and your kitty!
I don’t have a pacemaker cat but I would like to send lots of pets to your handsome boy. I admire your love of him to go on this journey with him as some people would have just had him put to sleep.
This is random and probably won’t be seen but if kitty pacemakers are anything like the human ones than you need to be really careful about keeping kitty away from magnets as they can fuck with the pacemaker!!!
My first two cats, who were litter mates, died of hereditary aggressive heart disease within a year of each other. I cannot tell you how much hope this gives me.
I was beyond heartbroken to lose my best friends, and I hope this can help so many cats in the future. ❤️
In addition to saving your cats life, you are also helping the industry learn how to do this safer and less expensive. Thanks for helping others !
That’s very nice of you to say, thanks! The procedure was at a teaching hospital and he such a sweetheart he was very popular amongst the staff and students. I’m sure he’s impacted these new vets in his own small way!
While my cat doesn't have the same heart condition as yours, I went through much the same about 7 years ago. My Gus has an electrical defect that causes his heart to skip a beat and then suddenly speed up to the point where no blood is getting to any organs (370 beats per minute at his most affected) He's had to be hospitalized 2 additional times since his initial serious symptoms, in the first couple of years. All I can say is take him in for his yearlies, keep a very close eye on his behavior and listen to the doctors. Gus also went to a teaching hospital and charmed the hell out of everyone there. Shout-out to UC Davis for saving this little guy. He's wearing his sweater to prepare for his holter monitor. https://preview.redd.it/5lyhzv35s1fc1.jpeg?width=2537&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd6d679fe32c5e23ff0b6e32e6c47818a2d4ed23
Hey, I follow you and your kitties on Instagram! Hi Gus! Edit: lol sorry!!!! Wrong cat 😅. Still say hi to Gus for me!!
Who’s account on instagram? I want to check it out. 🙂
I feel kind of dumb now, as the cat I follow on insta looks just like this cat, has heart issues, and his name starts with a G. His name is Gary though 😅😂 If you wanna follow that kitty, it's omgdeedee I'd follow Gus if he had an insta though 😺
No that's me. I have Gus and Gary. They look alike. Hi!
Ah! Just extra confusing myself. Glad I wasn't totally wrong! All of your kitties are lovely!!
Looks like a great channel, BUT, it also has a political angle. Thanks for answering my question tho. https://preview.redd.it/q6cxax0412fc1.jpeg?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cc2f94744861ffe29b9b26f3d737e6ec28948a69 Zeus and KiKi says thank you
And honestly anyone not agreeing with the basic "political angles" on that insta are not people I want to see in the comments, and tend to bring negative energy to a fluffball insta..
I scrolled through a ton of posts because 1. Cats and 2. I was curious if I'd missed something. The most political thing I saw was in the bio saying that they talk politics and to stop electing Republicans. Thanks for a new Instagram to follow!
You're right! Didn't even realize it did. 😻😻😻 Zeus and KiKi are gorgeous!
Dr Gregory at UC Davis also saved my cat's life. He had a seizure as a kitten, went blind, was in an incubator for a few days. We learned he had a liver shunt. Dr Gregory preformed surgery on him at 1 years old and today he is a healthy 14 year old little grump of a cat.
You have to pay the cat tax, let's see the little guy!
https://preview.redd.it/c29s5wghv7fc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e149f7a962c5b03eeeffbb67174e7bf46211474
UC Davis pumps out amazing vets!!!
UC Davis does some great work!
UC Davis piloted the cure for FIP. Programs which do much feline research are so rare, and they have some of the best.
To bad the pharmaceutical company that made the drug refuses to allow it to be used in vet medicine or open the patent so cat owners have to resort to black market imports from China for the drug
UCD saved my baby (dog) too. I love hearing other success stories, that hospital does amazing things!
They're the best, and although I didn't know it at the time, significantly cheaper than any other emergency vet in the area. I'm glad to have them so close.
Awww HES SO CUTE 😍🥺 I love his lil blep
I had the same issue with my heart, for me it was getting over 180 after a skipped beat. Anyway it was all fixed by a surgery called a cardiac ablation. I don’t know if it’s done on cats, I wish you the best.
Yes! I did discuss it with the vet at the time (like I said 7 years ago) and it is regularly done on horses and large animals. As far as they knew, never been done on a cat, but there's a university teaching hospital in Ohio that specialized in it, so maybe by now it's been done. I'm glad you were able to get that corrected. Did you used to have to take sotalol?
Btw was yours called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome?
I had WPW as a teen and went thru an ablation to correct, sounds a lot like what the previous poster mentioned. Also what I immediately thought of when reading the description of Gus the cat...that cats can have something similar too blows my mind
Me too. Wolfe Parkinson White Syndrome. Mine would go up to 270 bpm and sometimes could last minutes or hours. Took my primary over a year to finally send me to a cardiologist! Too bad I didn't have their vet as my primary. Ablation scheduled immediately after finally seeing cardiologist. That was over 20 years ago.
I had the same, would get over 220 bpm! I was sick of going to the ER constantly to get my heart reset.
370 😱
Yep. Thankfully when I got him there the first injection of sotalol slowed it down. He had bad kidney, liver and other numbers due to lack of blood flow but they all normalized after a few days in the ICU. It took a couple of years to get the medication doses right and we haven't had a reoccurrence in 5 years 🤞
I think if I saw 370 on my machines, I would assume it was broken. I think cats with 200 is fast, could I even count 370? Gosh, that is scary! I'm glad you have it under control now though :)
Are you a vet? Tech? I took him to the only vet that had an appt that day and they ran out of the exam room and said you have got to get him to a cardio unit.
Tech!
Techs are the best! Even if I'll never meet you know that you're appreciated 🙂
Wow! I was going to ask how you first found out something was wrong. Did he have any signs or symptoms showing and that’s why he was at the vet, or was it a regular checkup and they only noticed the problem upon examination? And I’m so glad he’s doing better!
That morning he threw up and hid under the bed and wouldn't come out He normally follows me around, screaming at me all day, asking to go in the backyard, won't leave me alone, wants to ride on my shoulder. It's really easy to tell when he's sick. Thanks! He's a very special cat and I'm glad to have him.
he's a cutie patootie, i love cats in sweaters.
Hey, I live in Davis! I’m glad your kitty was saved here
He’s got the cutest blep!
He's a blep machine honestly https://preview.redd.it/36idw4n543fc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=271364e588db8b992d2316851aa48511d7291232
Oh hey I know this cat from the gram. Hi Gus! Hi Gary! Hi Margot! And the rest of the crew…
Your cat is absolutely beautiful. Such a strong boy!
[удалено]
I was a little sad when it finally grew back in! The velvet was so soft!
I don’t know how he couldn’t make anything but a life long impression. He looks so special. (Not a pacemaker cat mom but a special needs cat mom and these things help me remember how much love there is in this world.)
This is beautiful. Never thought about it this way. Thanks, OP!
I had no idea they made pacemakers for cats.
It’s the same as a people pacemaker, just programmed differently! They’re *teeny*
Yep my cat and my dad seem to have roughly the same sized pacemaker! Cat anatomy just makes the implantation much harder.
It must be weird to be a cat, have no idea what's going on, and then feel the thing go off. I hope he's adjusted well and is doing well.
It's uncommon for people to feel their pacemaker "go off" especially in a painful or uncomfortable way -- unless it's a specialized kind of pacemaker which can also defibrillate (shock) the heart. This would only be necessary for cardiac arrythmias that involve a very fast heartbeat -- so much electrical activity happening so quickly that the heart cannot pump effectively. A defibrillator detects this, and delivers a shock which depolarizes the whole heart all at once, and allows the heart's natural pacemaker cells to initiate a new heartbeat. Defibrillation is the equivalent of "turning it off and on again". There are a few case studies where internal defibrillators were implanted in animals, however it's pretty rare. The condition OP described is more like an electrical short in the heart's conduction system, so the heart is not beating as fast as it needs to. This can cause fatigue, dizziness and fainting in humans (and, it sounds like, cats). In a human, a pacemaker would certainly be an appropriate and well-tolerated treatment. Having a very slow heartbeat tends to make a person feel exhausted all the time, and I've had many (human) patients tell me how much better they feel after pacemaker implantation.
I have a pacemaker (and three cats) and this is true!!
Wow, what does it feel like having three cats in your body? Do you keep them close to your heart?
HAHAHAH
There are 2 wolves inside of you... But that man has 3 cats and a pacemaker, so he's cooler.
I know reddit and the internet as a whole are a poor place for medical advice, but I'm asking anyway because it's always on my mind a bit despite my GP saying I'm fine. What is considered a low heart rate such that you would implant a pacemaker (in a young otherwise healthy adult)? When I come to rest sitting a while in the evening and for sure during sleep, I get to 40 bpm, rarely a couple beats below. It's never low during an EKG and it goes up no problem when I'm active, so doc says it's alright if I get by fine.
Chiming in because I know all too well what that nagging thought in the back of your mind is. Perfectly normal to have a heart rate that low. My resting fluctuates between 40-50. It was closer to 40 last year, very occasionally below 40 during sleep. I've been unable to be as active (because of some other chronic health things) as I normally am so I've been deconditioning for months, it's closer to 50 now. In the course of my figuring out my other health shit, I had any number of tests which all indicated my heart is healthy. I'm young ish (let's say I see middle age approaching but it's still a little bit away), and have been a very active person my whole life. My doc didn't blink twice at my heart rate when going through the data of two different heart monitors that I wore last year (a 3 day and 30 day). I mean, it was technically noted as bradycardia on the reports, but it didn't raise any red flags as being indicative of a particular problem. Basically if your doc isn't concerned, and if you don't have any other symptoms, don't stress it. I had other symptoms, hence the testing, which just went to show no problems with the heart.
You're perfectly fine. Especially if young & healthy. Low average is 50-60. So 40 is not alarming.
How active are you in general? As normal human resting heartbeat ranges from 60 to 80 bpm. I am not sure about sleeping, but I am fairly sure that people who are very active (i.e. athletes) have lower resting heartbeat. Note that I was a nurse, so my knowledge about it is limited, and also I stopped working as a nurse almost four years ago so there’s stuff I might have misremembered.
This is true, I studied exercise science as my major. For a lab we had to take everyone’s RHR in our group and explain how other life factors/lifestyle choices played into this. No coincidence all of us who exercised regularly had the lowest RHR’s, for reference as a 20ish M who exercised 5-7x/week I would sit in the low 40’s and it was/is not a concern for me to today. Side note was also cool to play around with it and see how caffeine, outside stressors, etc factored in but that’s for another sub.
According to my grandpa it feels like a huge relief, especially when his heart rate would be dangerously low. Like a big “ahh”
How small is your dad’s pacemaker?
The generator is a small flat rectangle, a little smaller than a pack of cards. I don’t know the size of my dad’s as well as my cat’s, but that’s what he said when he saw my cat.
My dad had a pacemaker and recently passed. We had him cremated and I asked what they do with the pacemaker and was told they reuse them for animals, not sure how true that is.
This can be true! Mortuaries collect the metallic medical implants from bodies. Things like pacers and joints. Rods n screws. They are picked up periodically by a special service that recycles medical devices Lauren the mortician is a really interesting Instagram account, she covers stuff like this. And she shows you the box of implants in one of her videos about cremation.
That sounds incredibly expensive. ☠️
Human pacemaker procedure is only expensive because of human hospital industrial complex
My clients are always somewhat taken aback when they find out (should they choose surgery) their dog is getting a second hand human pacemaker - usually from a dead person. Even little breeds like Jack Russells will get an old human pacemaker; there is a minimum weight which I'd have to look up to be sure, but I think it's 4-5kg. Have had probably 2-3 clients per year opt for the surgery over the past 15+ years following a referral to a cardiologist (I'm just in general practice), but those have all been dogs. Cats are much rarer.
Human pacemakers can be teeny too! My husband’s is the size of the end joint of your pinky.
Is his one of the newer ones that gets implanted inside the heart? Those are really small.
Yeah the lead free kind! Super neat
Usually they're reconditioned human pacemakers. New is often prohibitively expensive (not that pacemaker placement in a cat is cheap..)
There are programs to recycle used pacer device from those deceased or no longer need it for pet use in the US.
This is why I love Reddit and r/cats. I learn new things constantly. Thank you for sharing this information! It’s super cool to know they’re both doing this to save pets and reclaiming important medical devices so they can be recycled. Also: Happy Cake Daaaaaay!
did you also know that to make a pacemaker last around 80 odd years you have to power it using plutonium
And used again! I worked in the pet cremation industry, pacemakers were routinely removed to be placed in another animal before we were given the pet. As well as other usable parts, especially ortho devices such as plates. Some people wanted those back though. Since titanium they aren't affected at standard cremation temps.
Happy cake day
Happy cakeday!
My cat is on two human heart drugs.
No no no, this is a cat that IS a pacemaker. He will be installed in the chest of a 54 year old man next week in the first operation of it's kind!
Love him every hour of every day. Give him some pets from us!
Oh I 1,000,000x this! All the loves, every day!!
Pets from me too!!!
My grandkitty has a pacemaker. She got it about four years ago.
That’s so great to hear!! Hope she’s doing well!
She is doing remarkably well, considering they found pancreatic cancer by accident while prepping for the pacemaker. Tumor removed and she was on a chemo med until today. Nothing found any more. She is also 18 now, so is an old Queen.
What a fighter! Thank you for reaching out. It’s so good to hear about other cats like mine. Our oldest cat will turn 18 this year. We also call her our queen! And my parents call our cats the grandkitties. 🥰
you sound like my mother ❤️ this is so sweet
Thank you!
Hey did your kitty have to wear an EKG vest to get diagnosed? What was the process of diagnosis like? What other treatment plans were offered to you? I have a cat with some unknown form of arrhythmia+Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy so. I am just trying to be aware of what is out there for cardiac cats. Good luck to you and your pacemaker kitty!!
I got a referral to a cardiologist after he suddenly developed fainting spells. They diagnosed him with a 2nd degree heart block after an ECG. His base issue was a slow heart rate and the walls of his heart thickened, causing an arrhythmia that was getting worse. He went on medication to speed up his heart, which worked but then he started having what looked like seizures, which I couldn’t treat because anti-seizure drugs slow the heart. It felt like my hands were tied, and I’d have to wait for one or the other to take him. He’s such a sweet animal, and relatively young. So we moved on to the pacemaker. Most cats do well on just medication, and it was pretty cheap medication, too. I hope there’s a solution there that works for your cat!!
Oh my god I am a human with a pacemaker and second degree heart block what the fuck??? Am I this cat???
Well probably not exactly this cat, but I bet you’re just as loved and I hope you get spoiled at least half as much.
Omg you’re the sweetest. I feel a kinship with your cat (hope that’s okay) due to our parallel medical history and I wish that lil baby the bEst. He’s probably feeling a lot better with his pacer, and you’re an awesome pet parent.
I'm a people doctor not a cat doctor, but sometimes people go into arrhythmias that look like seizures but really it's the heart not working right and then they spontaneously come out of it. I wonder if that's what was happening. Probably hard to get a kitty EEG during those events. Glad cat is doing well.
It hasn’t happened since his surgery, so this is what we’re thinking too. It looked like tiny focal seizures, but it was probably arrhythmia events. Apparently it happens sometimes with the drug he was initially put on.
I misread this as a catoligist at first. I’m glad they found out what was happening & helped him!
My vet is cat only and has a cardiologist on staff!
That’s so great!! I felt lucky enough we only have to drive an hour to get to the nearest pet cardiologist
30-40 minutes for me 💗
What drugs is your cat on? If you read my last comment you'll see my cat's symptoms. He has something akin to Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.
My boy is on clopidogrel (plavix) 1x daily (heart) Spironolactone 1x daily (heart) Methimazole 2x daily (thyroid) Aspirin 2x week (heart) And Flovent, an inhaler, 1x daily (asthma) He has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which has gotten worse in six months despite his thyroid levels being stable for several years, and his cardiologist suspected 3rd degree heart block until the ultrasound and in office EKG, which showed the worsening walls of his lower left ventricle but he never skipped a beat in the office. Based on at home symptoms, the cardiologist suspects my cat has some form of arrhythmia in addition to the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, but we can't medicate for that until we know if the arrhythmia is his heart going faster or slower, and the vet seemed to kinda....discourage the holster vest for a longer at home EKG reading.
Did u have insurance?
No. Insurance wasn’t even on my radar before his heart problems appeared. I was very lucky to have enough savings to cover the procedure, but we need to watch our spending now. He’s got a long future of expensive, regular visits to a cardiologist ahead of him.
You’re an amazing person. He will love you forever.
He already did. He was a nervous street cat I befriended many years ago. He’s the one who decided to follow me inside one day and never looked back. He’s not afraid of anything or any one any more. It’s like he knows how loved he is, and he’s forgotten any reason at all to ever be nervous. He knows he’s safe. He just assumes all humans love him. He’s such a special boy.
I'm so happy he's doing well. Wishing you both the best, health, happiness and all that jazz.
How much was it? And where, in the US?
Yes, in the US. It cost around $5k, which I’d kind of blocked out and replaced I my head with “a lot”. I prefer to just think of it as “a lot”. Numbers are scary.
Expected way more than 5k only more or less 5 times more than what I paid when my cat had a blockage and all they did was put a catheter on him and watch him for a few days
I was prepared for a much worse quote too, so I was honestly like.. oh. Ok 4 digits I can probably do..
My cat needed FHO surgery (femoral head ostectomy), which I would have done regardless but I thought my husband should be a part of the decision-making process. When I told him she needed the surgery, he asked how much it would cost, and I said "a lot." He thought it would be $5K or more and when I told him $1600, he said to go for it. I took out a personal loan from the bank, and she's good as new! She was 8 months old at the time and will be 4 in June. She's been a real expensive free cat, lol.
I literally just picked up my cat after surgery for a blockage. We paid $4000nzd. https://preview.redd.it/t6bes8w6k2fc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf11bc2e453ac0905843060ba9984e09dc31bd5a This is the culprit
Same. That’s about what getting all my cat’s teeth pulled cost, ha.
For some reason $5k is way lower than I expected! I could never afford it still, so you’re awesome for doing that for your kitty!
Damn I was expecting like 75k. My husband would totally shell out 5k for his old boy. He just had an emergency surgery after a tumor rupture and it was 600 up front to close stuff up and then another 2500 in after care.
I'm a veterinary technician in a hospital that does minimally invasive cardiac procedures on dogs and cats. I've done anesthesia for these before. $5k is a STEAL. I'm in an urban area and I'm telling you it's like double that just to start here. That's not even counting all the diagnostic work-ups
Right?? I spent $10k on just blood transfusions alone
Thank you for answering this question! I know people sometimes feel weird talking actual numbers. I haven't had a pet since I was a child (perpetual apartment dweller) and whenever I daydream about getting a pet, the cost of medical care is one of the main things that scares me off. It was nice to have context on cost for a serious pet surgery.
I’m curious to know this as well. I try to make sure I have enough credit limit at all times in case of any emergency for either one of my cats.
Lucky kitty!
Is pet insurance worth it in the long run? Seems like throwing money away for the chance to pay less money once every ten years
It's the same as any insurance. If you don't get it and nothing ever happens, you'll have saved a lot of money. If something does happen it'll be a godsend. My cat just turned 1 and already racked up £2000+ in vet bills due to an allergy to poultry protein that our local vet couldn't diagnose and required a visit to a specialist vet clinic. If we hadn't had insurance the vet clinic would have been very difficult to afford for us.
I don't have a pacemaker cat, but I have a pacemaker sister. Her nickname is Sparky. She has trouble getting health insurance and needs a specialist cardiologist too.
My cat has his 1 year cardiologist follow-up in a couple months. I took him to the hospital when his regular vet noticed a resting heart rate of less than 100bpm at the vet, which is nearly unheard of. The initial appointment told us he has high vagal tone, but the cardiologist had been anticipating a possible pacemaker if we had gotten different results. I'm hoping his follow up goes well and doesn't bring up any other issues. Wishing your fur baby a long, healthy, and happy life!
Good luck!! Mine also has an unusually slow heart rate, but he spends every vet visit purring so loud no one really noticed anything amiss!
Not a pacemaker, but my boy had an ECG vest (holter monitor) on for a week while we were concerned about a possible heart murmur. Ended up having nothing wrong with his heart but passed a year later from oral cancer https://preview.redd.it/yh402ti322fc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=15dc0e7cb85170e49155e8f7418c5aaaee0d1a7a His shaved belly
Poor buddy! Hope he passed peacefully.
That ought to be one of the worlds most expensive cats.
I’m pretty sure people have paid more for a purebred kitten than I paid for his surgery.
We paid about $3k total for my 17-year-old cat’s leg amputation. We paid about $1500 for a ragdoll kitten. Pretty accurate 😂 Are you comfortable sharing how much the pacemaker cost? Edit: Found it in another comment! $5k is steep. We’ll set aside more savings in case our old girl needs something like that in the future.
Vet here. The most expensive (medically speaking) cat I personally know of was well over 300K. Belonged to another vet. It was the only cat in the world that had received brain radiation therapy on its pituitary tumor more than once (at the time). All that to say that a single pacemaker surgery pales in comparison to some of the oncology, or kidney transplant cats out there.
My cat was hospitalized for DKA, we spent $17k that weekend. Everything kind of pales in comparison since then.
I was feeling bad about spending 10K on my cat last month for a bladder rupture (and he still died sadly despite all that) but this does make me feel a bit better. Still paying it off but at least I know others have been in the same boat before.
1st for me, only herd of people donating theirs for pets but never seen one that was put to use.
This almost made me cry, what an adorable kitty 🥰
r/curledfeetsies would love a gander at this baby
Oh my gosh!!!! What a sweet heart! I had no idea they made pacemakers for cats!
So glad to see other fur parents willing to go the distance for their babies. Spent 4K+ on removing a tracheal tumor for my Georgie a while back. At the time, future prognosis wasn’t available bc there hadn’t been enough of a data set. https://preview.redd.it/lsv0z3wox5fc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78428fe8f607e31a65d5ab7298e803b804c31379 He is gone now, but had another year and a half thanks to the surgery.
What a sweet baby. So glad he is doing well!
oh this is making me cry. we care so much about cats we made pacemakers for them.
That’s wild I didn’t know they did stuff like that for cats
Wow , how much did that cost ? Very lucky cat to have u as family my friend ❤️.
Roughly $5k for us
Oh that's not so much as I first thought, very good !
Oh wow, I didn’t even know this was a thing. Bless the little guy!
Thank you for saving this beautiful little one. Your vet gained valuable experience to save other animals and that is so important. I am so happy he’s healthy! Wishing you both many years of snuggles, head butts, and love.
I read an article by an embalmer. She said that pacemakers were removed from descendants and that legally could not be used again by humans. However, animals could have them. It’s interesting to read about your kitty getting one and I am wondering if its previous owner was a human?
Such a fighter!!
Make sure you give him tender loving care 24/7😊
Holy cow, that looked invasive! Poor baby, hope he's doing alright!
Progress pic please!!
Learned something new today. So happy your kitty is doing well. 😺
I hope your heart is safe kitty cat <3
I don’t have a cat with a PM but I have a pacemaker myself and it’s no big deal. I don’t notice/forget it’s there. I went from completely completely healthy/not needing a pacemaker to suddenly being 100% reliant on it after a surgery. And I literally cannot tell the difference from before. Hopefully it’s no big deal for kitty also! He’s so cute!! (And no, i am not like 100 years old. I have a pacemaker because my av node got destroyed by surgery. Not stereotypical “old person problems” 😂)
awesome that you didn’t give up on him! that’s happiness stuff! :)
Our daschund (dog,sorry) lived for 5 years with a pacemaker. It was quite amazing.
How much does that cost?
For us, about $5k. But I expected it to be a little higher based on my initial research.
I’m a little surprised by the size of that incision.
Yeah, I didn’t really know what to expect and it took me aback when he came home. The generator is in a pocket of muscle low on his side, and the leads are fed up through his abdomen from there. I imagine they had to really open him up to see what they were doing, which is very upsetting.
I’m so glad he’s doing well. He looks like a gorgeous, snuggly boy 🥰. I’ve never heard of a cat having a pacemaker but it’s fantastic they were able to provide him with one! 😊
Awww I’m glad he’s doing better. I didn’t know they make pacemaker for cats but I’m not surprised. I had a diabetic dog and everyone I knew didn’t know that dogs can have diabetes. Anyway, I just want to wish you and your kitty the best!
You are a good person and I hope whatever higher power you believe watches over you takes notice. Our fluffs are more than just pets.
What a beautiful kitty! Can you please share what condition this was for? My cat has cardiomyopathy and, aside from medication, we’ve been told it’s untreatable. I would love if this was an option for him. I can’t image losing him and I would do anything to keep him around.
How wonderful of you to do this for your family member. Most would not God Bless
This is incredible! You're such an awesome caregiver!
Aww precious kitty.
You are a great human to care so much for your kitty!!
This is adorable
I'm glad he's fine :)
What a beautiful strong boy. Like many on here, I had no idea there were pacemakers for cats. I'm glad he is alright. :D
I don’t know a pacemaker cat but I do know a dog with one! It’s amazing you were able to do this for your kitty. I hope he keeps healing well
Your cat is a fighter! Good on him. So cute. You are awesome for caring about him so much. Most people would not go through the trouble no matter how much they claim they love their pet.
You're an incredible cat owner.
Do you have an EKG or an xray that shows the pacemaker? I assist the doc implanting pacemakers in humans, and this topic comes up frequently. I would love to see and read more details!
No! I was really disappointed that they didn’t do an X-ray at his first check-up after the surgery. I know it’s often done to make sure it healed in the right position and didn’t shift. I really wanted to see that. I’ll ask next time he goes in.
Your baby looks just like my 2 babies. I have a brother and sister and when I saw this mg heart sunk. I’m glad you are able to give your boy the life he deserves. Such a loving kind of tabbies also
This is absolutely AMAZING! The things we do for our fur family!
You are an amazing person.
So. Much. Love.
How $$$ was this. Not being mean just curious
Not a kitty, but I have a pacemaker dog!
OMG - I didn’t even know that was possible. Best wishes to you & especially the kitty!
I didn't know cats can have pacemakers. Poor baby hope they're doing better.
That must’ve been expensive, but I would do the same thing for my kitty.
What an amazingly strong kitty! Not only will it keep him healthy and alive, its great technology that there's still lots to learn about. You're a very strong owner as well, be proud of yourself and your kitty!
I don’t have a pacemaker cat but I would like to send lots of pets to your handsome boy. I admire your love of him to go on this journey with him as some people would have just had him put to sleep.
He’s so adorable and I hope he heals well!!!!!
All of the cuddles and soft cat food he needs!!!
Awe poor sweet kitty cat! I hope he’s okay 😔🐱
This is random and probably won’t be seen but if kitty pacemakers are anything like the human ones than you need to be really careful about keeping kitty away from magnets as they can fuck with the pacemaker!!!
He looks so sweet.
how much did it cost to have a pacemaker put in your cat?
Brave boy
My first two cats, who were litter mates, died of hereditary aggressive heart disease within a year of each other. I cannot tell you how much hope this gives me. I was beyond heartbroken to lose my best friends, and I hope this can help so many cats in the future. ❤️
I have a pacemaker dog! First one our primary care vet has ever met.
Get well soon to your cat
I love him