Betsy and Jeff Forrest have a houseful of cats at their residence in Ken-Caryl Ranch, but a black-and-white fluffball named Mickey has a special place there.
Earlier this year, at the age of 10, Mickey was discovered by a veterinarian to have a third-degree heart block that was causing a low heart rate.Veterinary cardiologists implant pacemakers in pets, most commonly in dogs. But now Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado in Englewood faced a rarity: a cat that needed one. And, in March, Mickey got one.
“I was told without the pacemaker Mickey would have been dead by now,” Betsy Forrest said.
The surgery cost $5,000.
VRCC’s cardiology team says that in the past 17 years, it has implanted about 100 pacemakers in dogs and Mickey is the only cat that has received one. Dr. Karen Sanderson, another VRCC cardiologist, estimates that cats get pacemakers probably every couple of years in Colorado. Dogs get one about every month.
