Vet Options and Help
Hello everyone! A little bit of background, I have a senior dog who is 13 years old and her name is Cookie, she is a chihuahua mix. Recently she was diagnosed with a heart murmur when we went in to get a lump checked. After a few tests and X-rays they concluded her heart is also enlarged, and also suffers from heart disease and she is borderline anemic. They keep pushing for an echocardiogram to see exactly how bad everything is and where to go from there.
Just taking her for what I mentioned above including her meds have already put us at about $1,500. The echo with a specialist at a different hospital would be about $2300 and in house at her vet would be $1300. I am a college student attending UTSA and I cannot afford to have this procedure done at that cost. We have not done a blood test yet, but that is my plan to see if there is anything else they can do to keep her comfortable while we see what to do next.
We have also gotten a referral to the Texas A&M Vet School for the procedure and I'm hoping it can at least be somewhat cheaper than what her vet is quoting us.
My question to you all is, does anyone know of any kind of resources which may be able to help out during this time? I'm not sure if the city offers anything. I am in desperate need of any possible financial help for this and am currently trying to find any kind of non-profit or community resource to help. I have found a few online but a lot are very specific as to what qualifies for them as well as them having a waitlist.
I am also trying to see if anyone has any kind of resources for any kind of emotional support during this time as well as any possible advice for caring for my dog with such as any kind of medical advice, caretaking advice, and honestly anything you can think of. Thank you so much for your time in reading this.
TLDR: My dog has an enlarged heart, murmur, and is borderline anemic. I am in need of any kind of resource both community and non for any kind of aid both financially and emotionally, as well as any advice anyone may have for my senior dog Cookie.