Help Ghibli!

Ghibli is my big, cuddly, sweet-natured 9-year-old kitty. He's part Maine Coon, just a giant ball of fluffy paws and pure love. Unfortunately Ghibli has developed megacolon (a condition wherein the colon stops functioning to excrete waste) with additional complications that have, despite many visits to the vet, resisted the usual treatments. After exhausting all medicinal and dietary options, my vet gave two options: euthanasia or colectomy surgery to remove the afflicted area. This is an operation with a good prognosis, and offers a chance at a good quality of life ... but extremely costly.

Throughout this process, despite some obvious discomfort, Ghibli has remained his usual happy, snuggly, even playful self, completely unaware how threatening his condition was. With so much life left in him, I couldn't let him down. I decided to bring him in for the colectomy procedure yesterday afternoon. The operation was a success and he is currently recovering under observation at the clinic for the next couple of days.

I had to leave a down-payment of $2000 with the vet on Thursday, and I will need to cover almost $1500 more when I pick him up on the weekend. This was a very big and difficult decision. Including the repeated trips to the vet over this last month to diagnose and treat Ghibli's condition, this whole experience has made a pretty huge impact on household finances... but I love my kitty very much.

Any contribution will be very much appreciated by Ghibli (and me too!)... every little bit is a big help for us!

Nothing eases the heart like the sight of a peacefully snoozing cat, so I hope to share more of Ghibli's cuddly clownish exploits with you at lollcat.tumblr.com

Thanks to all!

Update:
It's Saturday evening and Ghibli is now back home, convalescing.  Everything has gone very well.  We just can't figure out what kind of dish shape he'll be able to eat from with this dramatic collar! Thank-you for your kind comments and generous help!