- J
In the summer of 2010, I adopted a two-year-old black cat from the NYC/ACC.
They told us he'd been living on the streets of Brooklyn for at least six months, possibly longer.
Within ten days of bringing him home, we began to suspect that we had adopted a trash panda in a cat disguise. His survival skills on the street must have involved eating all manner of garbage, as he was very interested in digging through and sampling ours.
But even that early, we also knew something was wrong: His litter box looked like it had been sprinkled with chocolate chips.
Several vet visits later, Tybalt was diagnosed with megacolon. (Here's an x-ray from 2015. Hint: the inside of a cat is not supposed to look like that.)
Megacolon, for those unfamiliar, is what it sounds like. Tybalt's colon is large. Too large. Much larger than the orifice though which waste material is meant to exit. My spouse describes it as "chambered for a .45 with a .22 barrel." It results in constipation and diarrhea and vomit: all manner of gross, uncomfortable ick.
Tybalt is now twelve years old, going on thirteen. An old man, practically, by cat standards. He is the sweetest boy. He lets us put hats and other silly outfits on him (though he was not a fan of the Obi Wan costume we got him for Star Wars Day).
He loves to snuggle under blankets. He's my migraine buddy and best buds with our other house panther, Nox. He's just a meatball of a cat. A real mush.
Tybalt's megacolon has been managed for 10+ years with twice daily medication, special food, and enemas. It has been a bit of a challenge, but we've done our best. Now vet visits with invasive procedures are becoming more frequent and our vet has indicated that such measures will no longer be sufficient soon. The next step is surgery.
The total cost for the surgery with Central Texas Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Hospital is estimated from $3000 - $3500. This will cover x-rays, the procedure, hospital stay as he recovers, and suture removal after.
The projected outcome for the surgery is excellent. It will not only extend Tybalt's life but will also improve his quality of life (and ours! cleaning up cat diarrhea multiple days per month is no joke).
We must pay the high end of the estimate as a deposit beforehand. We are able to pay for some of it ourselves, but not all. Any assistance (seriously, even a dollar!) is welcome and shares are very much appreciated.
Thanks for reading our story!
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