{"id":3497,"date":"2017-07-24T22:24:28","date_gmt":"2017-07-25T05:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.net\/blog\/?p=3497"},"modified":"2023-04-19T16:37:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T23:37:00","slug":"sweetheart-fights-cancer-with-angel-funds-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/sweetheart-fights-cancer-with-angel-funds-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweetheart Fights Cancer With Angel Fund\u2019s Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In September, 2015, Elaine Leonard\u2019s 14-year-old cat, Sweetheart, was not feeling well.\u00a0 She was coughing and lethargic and Elaine decided she should take her to see her veterinarian.<\/p>\n

She lives in Orange and OC Veterinary Medical Center, owned by Dr. Jeffery Horn, was not far from her home.\u00a0 Doctors there ran tests and examined Sweetheart, a Maine Coon breed.\u00a0 They found respiratory problems and a large mass in her chest. They suspected cancer and lymphoma.\u00a0 She also had some other physical issues.<\/p>\n

Dr. Cooper (a veterinarian who no longer works at the hospital) told Elaine that \u201cthis is serious.\u00a0 Sweetheart has a very large mass and you\u2019d better think about things and what you want to do.\u201d\u00a0 She added that the animal might need surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them that I was not going to let my 14-year-old cat have surgery,\u201d Elaine said.\u00a0 She was concerned because of Sweetheart\u2019s age and because of the expense \u2013 she did not believe she could afford an operation.<\/p>\n

Dr. Horn prescribed antibiotics and pain medication and referred Elaine to Veterinary Cancer Group in Tustin, which has several oncology specialists on staff.\u00a0 Sweetheart was examined there in November by Dr. David Bommarito, who is board certified in both oncology and radiation oncology.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bommarito told Elaine that her cat might be treatable with chemotherapy.\u00a0 But she chose to provide palliative care.\u00a0 \u201cMy option for choosing palliative care was that\u00a0\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t afford the expense of chemo treatment and didn\u2019t want her to suffer any possible side effects,\u201d Elaine said.<\/p>\n

A retiree on a fixed income, she applied to Angel Fund for help with her bill.\u00a0 Her request was granted.\u00a0 Veterinary Cancer Group also contributed.\u00a0 Elaine said that \u201cof course\u201d she appreciated the help and said that she also appreciated what Angel Fund has done to help many other pet owners.<\/p>\n

She took Sweetheart home \u2013 although she had regular appointments with Dr. Horn.\u00a0 The cat did pretty well for a few months.\u00a0 \u201cShe was walking around and eating and drinking until shortly before she died\u201d on March 25, 2016, Elaine said.\u00a0 \u201cOn that last visit to Dr. Horn, he said to bring her in when you\u2019re ready\u201d for euthanasia.<\/p>\n

But, she said, Sweetheart seemed to be doing OK. \u201cI had her on morphine and I just wanted to keep her comfortable. She was eating and drinking and responding.\u00a0 A week before she passed \u2013 she was a big cat and she\u2019d never done this before \u2013 she pawed her was up on my bed and she got very close to me and she lay down next to my body.\u00a0 She never had cuddled with me before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within a few days Sweetheart was gone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In September, 2015, Elaine Leonard\u2019s 14-year-old cat, Sweetheart, was not feeling well.\u00a0 She was coughing and lethargic and Elaine decided she should take her to see her veterinarian. She lives in Orange and OC Veterinary Medical Center, owned by Dr. Jeffery Horn, was not far from her home.\u00a0 Doctors there ran tests and examined Sweetheart, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grant-recipients","category-cats"],"yoast_head":"\nSweetheart Fights Cancer With Angel Fund\u2019s Help | The Animal Health Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.animalhealthfoundation.org\/blog\/2017\/07\/sweetheart-fights-cancer-with-angel-funds-help\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sweetheart Fights Cancer With Angel Fund\u2019s Help | The Animal Health Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In September, 2015, Elaine Leonard\u2019s 14-year-old cat, Sweetheart, was not feeling well.\u00a0 She was coughing and lethargic and Elaine decided she should take her to see her veterinarian. 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