Need Help with Pumpkin's medical
Donation protected
My name is Gary Setter, I've been rescuing animals all my life. I'm a volunteer with the Dearborn Animal Shelter (DAS) for over 20 years. At the shelter, people considered me as the dog guy.
Currently my focus is on TNR feral cats, which also leads to finding adoptable stray cats and kittens. With the help of low cost spay/neuter vouchers available at the DAS, I have spayed/neutered dozens of cats at work and in my neighborhood. All that I have done with feral/stray cats was self-funded, as my contribution to reducing the over population of unwanted cats. I never keep track of what I spent, but it's several hundred dollars if not over well over a thousand.
I have a blog on an animal care forum that I share my experience about caring for feral cats. My user name there is protodog (I work in a prototype shop and worked with dogs at the shelter) http://www.sosanimalslounge.com/
I have ten other cats at home that I've rescued (three are feral that live indoors because they refuse to escape and they're no problem), not including a feral male who prefers to live outdoors.
Most of my "normal" cats were feral kittens when I found them but for one reason or another I ended up keeping them.
In June of this year, I lost a really great cat, Leo, that I rescued at work. When I took him for his annual vaccines, the vet accidentally gave him a vaccine meant for dogs. His health started to go down hill soon after and cost over $800 in vet bills. Long story short, he died four weeks later. It broke my hart to loose Leo. He would show his gratitude for being rescued in many ways. I'll never take another animal to that clinic.
So now I really need your help. I added up all the charges and I've spent over $5500 so far just to find out what's wrong with Pumpkin. I have no Idea what it will cost for future treatments but I do know it'll be expensive. I'm not rich and now deeper in dept. What should I do? Pumpkin needs help and it's not known if saving her is possible or impossible. She loves me and I love her. How can I kill someone who loves me just because it cost too much to let her live?
The test sample results will return next week, which hopefully, will give us information to guide her treatments. Any help is appreciated with the mounting vet bills for Pumpkin and need help to continue her medical care.
I found Pumpkin about ten years ago when she was around eight weeks old in a junk car. I took her home and cleaned her up. My plan was to take her to the animal shelter to get adopted but I fell in love with her and just couldn't do it. So I kept her and named her my Pumpkin. She is a very sweet and loving girl that gives hugs.
On a regular checkup at the veterinarian last May, it was discovered Pumpkin had lost a bit of weight. She didn't appear sick and didn't exhibit any abnormal behaviors like excessively drinking water or vomiting (other than a hair ball). I wouldn't have known anything was wrong with her. She had been overweight so I figured the weight management food and not overfeeding her was making her trim.
A blood test reveled there was some sort of infection going on. After ten days on antibiotics, her white blood cell count went down but was way above normal. We continued with the antibiotic for another ten days but her white blood cell count went up. Again we continued with two different antibiotics for ten days and again the white blood cells dropped slightly but above normal. X-rays were taken but were inconclusive, although appeared to be a shadow, possibly a fluid, in the chest. My vet suggested taking Pumpkin to a specialist for an ultrasound and see if they can aspirate the fluid from her chest. I made an appointment with an ongoligist but we had to wait about a week to get in. At that time Pumpkin seemed normal. A couple days before the appointment I started to notice Pumpkin's was breathing a little fast and deep. It was a long drive on a hot day (the air conditioning isn't working) and when we arrived at the ongoligist, Pumpkin's heart was galloping. After the ultrasound and more x-rays, which again was inconclusive, the doctor suggested I take Pumpkin to an emergency vet to have a cardiologist examine her. The emergency hospital took Pumpkin immediately and gave her oxygen. After some time had passed, I was presented with a "plan". This is where it gets very expensive. More x-rays and a host of other test. They couldn't reach my vet or the ongoligist I had just been to. Their service provider had an outage in that region. Great. After two days in intensive care and thorough examinations (her heart checked out fine), the fluid was aspirated and examined. It showed inflammation with a large number of lymphocytes. It's not known for sure if it's small cell lymphoma or possibly a chylous effusion. More test are needed. Pumpkin was given a steroid, which improved her breathing, and stayed another day for observation.
Pumpkin is continuing on the steroid and here attitude is good.
The doctors at the emergency hospital that was treating Pumpkin liked her so much that she was welcomed to stay indefinitely.
The doctors and staff at Blue Pearl emergency hospital are great. They really do care.
My primary vet, Nichols Veterinary Clinic in Wayne, who I've gone to for over 50 years with my pets, is the best!
Currently my focus is on TNR feral cats, which also leads to finding adoptable stray cats and kittens. With the help of low cost spay/neuter vouchers available at the DAS, I have spayed/neutered dozens of cats at work and in my neighborhood. All that I have done with feral/stray cats was self-funded, as my contribution to reducing the over population of unwanted cats. I never keep track of what I spent, but it's several hundred dollars if not over well over a thousand.
I have a blog on an animal care forum that I share my experience about caring for feral cats. My user name there is protodog (I work in a prototype shop and worked with dogs at the shelter) http://www.sosanimalslounge.com/
I have ten other cats at home that I've rescued (three are feral that live indoors because they refuse to escape and they're no problem), not including a feral male who prefers to live outdoors.
Most of my "normal" cats were feral kittens when I found them but for one reason or another I ended up keeping them.
In June of this year, I lost a really great cat, Leo, that I rescued at work. When I took him for his annual vaccines, the vet accidentally gave him a vaccine meant for dogs. His health started to go down hill soon after and cost over $800 in vet bills. Long story short, he died four weeks later. It broke my hart to loose Leo. He would show his gratitude for being rescued in many ways. I'll never take another animal to that clinic.
So now I really need your help. I added up all the charges and I've spent over $5500 so far just to find out what's wrong with Pumpkin. I have no Idea what it will cost for future treatments but I do know it'll be expensive. I'm not rich and now deeper in dept. What should I do? Pumpkin needs help and it's not known if saving her is possible or impossible. She loves me and I love her. How can I kill someone who loves me just because it cost too much to let her live?
The test sample results will return next week, which hopefully, will give us information to guide her treatments. Any help is appreciated with the mounting vet bills for Pumpkin and need help to continue her medical care.
I found Pumpkin about ten years ago when she was around eight weeks old in a junk car. I took her home and cleaned her up. My plan was to take her to the animal shelter to get adopted but I fell in love with her and just couldn't do it. So I kept her and named her my Pumpkin. She is a very sweet and loving girl that gives hugs.
On a regular checkup at the veterinarian last May, it was discovered Pumpkin had lost a bit of weight. She didn't appear sick and didn't exhibit any abnormal behaviors like excessively drinking water or vomiting (other than a hair ball). I wouldn't have known anything was wrong with her. She had been overweight so I figured the weight management food and not overfeeding her was making her trim.
A blood test reveled there was some sort of infection going on. After ten days on antibiotics, her white blood cell count went down but was way above normal. We continued with the antibiotic for another ten days but her white blood cell count went up. Again we continued with two different antibiotics for ten days and again the white blood cells dropped slightly but above normal. X-rays were taken but were inconclusive, although appeared to be a shadow, possibly a fluid, in the chest. My vet suggested taking Pumpkin to a specialist for an ultrasound and see if they can aspirate the fluid from her chest. I made an appointment with an ongoligist but we had to wait about a week to get in. At that time Pumpkin seemed normal. A couple days before the appointment I started to notice Pumpkin's was breathing a little fast and deep. It was a long drive on a hot day (the air conditioning isn't working) and when we arrived at the ongoligist, Pumpkin's heart was galloping. After the ultrasound and more x-rays, which again was inconclusive, the doctor suggested I take Pumpkin to an emergency vet to have a cardiologist examine her. The emergency hospital took Pumpkin immediately and gave her oxygen. After some time had passed, I was presented with a "plan". This is where it gets very expensive. More x-rays and a host of other test. They couldn't reach my vet or the ongoligist I had just been to. Their service provider had an outage in that region. Great. After two days in intensive care and thorough examinations (her heart checked out fine), the fluid was aspirated and examined. It showed inflammation with a large number of lymphocytes. It's not known for sure if it's small cell lymphoma or possibly a chylous effusion. More test are needed. Pumpkin was given a steroid, which improved her breathing, and stayed another day for observation.
Pumpkin is continuing on the steroid and here attitude is good.
The doctors at the emergency hospital that was treating Pumpkin liked her so much that she was welcomed to stay indefinitely.
The doctors and staff at Blue Pearl emergency hospital are great. They really do care.
My primary vet, Nichols Veterinary Clinic in Wayne, who I've gone to for over 50 years with my pets, is the best!