When Leticia Shaw’s cat, Vishnu, had a urinary blockage that required surgery about three years ago, the veterinarian told her that the condition sometimes can come back.
“Ever since then, I’ve been really anxious about that,” Leticia said. She has gotten regular checkups for Vishnu to make sure that doesn’t happen again.
During one of those checkups this spring at Little Tokyo Pet Clinic, Dr. Mary Chung told Leticia that Vishnu had a heart murmur. She recommended testing and x-rays to determine how severe the problem might be.
“That’s when Dr. Chung informed me about Angel Fund,” Leticia said. “I applied for a grant. The entire staff helped me with that process. Thankfully it was approved right away. I thought it would take way longer than it did.”
The tests showed that Vishnu has a cardiac problem. “They were able to do all the cardiovascular checks. But, basically, they just mentioned to me that he does have the problem – and once he has it, there’s no going back,” Leticia said.
“Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like it’s too serious. They caught it pretty early and they have given me heart medications and instructions on how to keep an eye on him to make sure it doesn’t get worse.
“There are warning signs like he might stop eating or when he sleeps his heart might beat too fast. So they gave me a couple of things to check. But honestly, he’s been amazing. He’s been super normal – he plays, he’s still himself. So hopefully it’s something that won’t get serious and we can just keep it contained.”
Leticia is grateful that she knows about the issue. And, she said, “thank God, things are going pretty good. I’m not seeing any signs for concern.”
She also expressed her gratitude for the Angel Fund grant and what it did to give her peace of mind and to help pay the veterinary bill.
Vishnu is seven years old and Leticia is optimistic that he has many years ahead of him. “He’s just so carefree and I hope he lives to 20. I can’t see him having any other problems. He’s now on a veterinary-prescribed diet and he can’t eat anything else.” But, she said, “the really scary problem for me was the urinary blockage.”
Leticia works as an IT manager for the Downtown LA Proper Hotel.otel.H Besides Vishnu, she has three dogs. She and her animals live in North Hollywood.
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