CuriousTheTXCat’s Medical Care
Donation protected
Curious is a tortie point Siamese that has been part of our lives since 2007. Before that, she was my Mom’s cat. My Mom had found her as a kitten, crossing South Oak Street in Pearsall, TX. Her eyes were infected and swollen shut. My Mom always joked that she was hungry and was “following her nose to Dairy Queen”.
My Mom died suddenly in November 2007. My sister and I lost her house and all of her belongings when the house was foreclosed. I have 4 things left of my Mom’s: a ring, a sweater, a blurry photo, and Curious.
I brought Curious up to Philadelphia from Pearsall, TX shortly after my Mom’s death. She adapted well. She has always been incredibly sweet. The only time she ever growled was when my boyfriend carried her for the first time, and, even then, it was more of a grumble than a growl.
We found out that Curious had kidney disease a couple of years ago. With constant monitoring, and twice weekly trips to the vet for administration of subcutaneous fluids, appetite stimulant, and Pepcid, she seemed to be doing fine.
She started wheezing loudly about 5-6 months ago. Initially, it was treated as a respiratory infection with antibiotics. She had always been a quiet wheezer and a snorer, so we didn’t really think anything of it. Her wheezing started to come and go much more frequently. Antibiotics were administered. LASIX and oral steroids became part of her daily routine. This went on for a while and our vet suggested that asthma was the cause.
About a month ago, it got really bad. We took her to a pet hospital in Philadelphia. They initially agreed with the asthma diagnosis and prescribed an inhaler ($221), steroids, and more antibiotics. We also purchased an AeroKat. Her breathing would get better, then worse. We would increase the dosage/frequency of one medication, decrease the dosage/frequency of another medication, and things would get better, and then worse. Her illness appeared to have many moving parts.
2 weeks ago, our vet at the hospital was at her wits’ end. She explained that she was at a loss as to why things were happening this way. She suggested euthanasia, which was the LAST thing we expected to hear. I cried and took her home. (We just lost a cat to cancer on April 30th. She was hiding. She was not eating. She would collapse from exhaustion after just taking a few steps. Curious is doing none of those things. She still loves to eat, hang out on top of the cable box, carry her favorite spring toy around, and bring me socks.)
Later that evening, the vet (after consulting with another vet) emailed us and suggested that it MIGHT be polyps. The surgery would be simple (but not without risks), and could possibly provide her with a better quality of life. I dropped her off at 8 AM last Tuesday, and was told to pick her up between 5 and 7 PM. When I received the call at 10:30 AM, I knew something was terribly wrong. The vet discovered that she had a mass (most likely malignant) in her throat, above the epiglottis (a flap of cartilage at the root of the tongue, which is depressed during swallowing to cover the opening of the windpipe). They were able to remove some of the necrotic tissue and clean away the pus and was ready to come home with us at 1:30 that day.
Since she has been home, she has been so much more like her “old” self. She comes to visit us much more often and just seems SO much more comfortable. I am over the moon!
However much more time we have left with her will be filled with more pet hospital visits. (We can no longer give her medicine orally. It’s extremely stressful to her and causes her to gag and making choking noises.) So all of her medications will be administered at the pet hospital via injection. This cat is my “baby”. I am unable to have children and she is very much like my child. She is also my “connection” to my late Mother. I love her so much.
Normally, we would have never considered setting up a GoFundMe. However the past few months have wreaked havoc on our finances and credit card bills. I have been blown away by peoples’ kindness and compassion over the past few days. Thank you for reading this.
My Mom died suddenly in November 2007. My sister and I lost her house and all of her belongings when the house was foreclosed. I have 4 things left of my Mom’s: a ring, a sweater, a blurry photo, and Curious.
I brought Curious up to Philadelphia from Pearsall, TX shortly after my Mom’s death. She adapted well. She has always been incredibly sweet. The only time she ever growled was when my boyfriend carried her for the first time, and, even then, it was more of a grumble than a growl.
We found out that Curious had kidney disease a couple of years ago. With constant monitoring, and twice weekly trips to the vet for administration of subcutaneous fluids, appetite stimulant, and Pepcid, she seemed to be doing fine.
She started wheezing loudly about 5-6 months ago. Initially, it was treated as a respiratory infection with antibiotics. She had always been a quiet wheezer and a snorer, so we didn’t really think anything of it. Her wheezing started to come and go much more frequently. Antibiotics were administered. LASIX and oral steroids became part of her daily routine. This went on for a while and our vet suggested that asthma was the cause.
About a month ago, it got really bad. We took her to a pet hospital in Philadelphia. They initially agreed with the asthma diagnosis and prescribed an inhaler ($221), steroids, and more antibiotics. We also purchased an AeroKat. Her breathing would get better, then worse. We would increase the dosage/frequency of one medication, decrease the dosage/frequency of another medication, and things would get better, and then worse. Her illness appeared to have many moving parts.
2 weeks ago, our vet at the hospital was at her wits’ end. She explained that she was at a loss as to why things were happening this way. She suggested euthanasia, which was the LAST thing we expected to hear. I cried and took her home. (We just lost a cat to cancer on April 30th. She was hiding. She was not eating. She would collapse from exhaustion after just taking a few steps. Curious is doing none of those things. She still loves to eat, hang out on top of the cable box, carry her favorite spring toy around, and bring me socks.)
Later that evening, the vet (after consulting with another vet) emailed us and suggested that it MIGHT be polyps. The surgery would be simple (but not without risks), and could possibly provide her with a better quality of life. I dropped her off at 8 AM last Tuesday, and was told to pick her up between 5 and 7 PM. When I received the call at 10:30 AM, I knew something was terribly wrong. The vet discovered that she had a mass (most likely malignant) in her throat, above the epiglottis (a flap of cartilage at the root of the tongue, which is depressed during swallowing to cover the opening of the windpipe). They were able to remove some of the necrotic tissue and clean away the pus and was ready to come home with us at 1:30 that day.
Since she has been home, she has been so much more like her “old” self. She comes to visit us much more often and just seems SO much more comfortable. I am over the moon!
However much more time we have left with her will be filled with more pet hospital visits. (We can no longer give her medicine orally. It’s extremely stressful to her and causes her to gag and making choking noises.) So all of her medications will be administered at the pet hospital via injection. This cat is my “baby”. I am unable to have children and she is very much like my child. She is also my “connection” to my late Mother. I love her so much.
Normally, we would have never considered setting up a GoFundMe. However the past few months have wreaked havoc on our finances and credit card bills. I have been blown away by peoples’ kindness and compassion over the past few days. Thank you for reading this.
Organizer
Celeste Alcala
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA
