In May of 2022, we moved to Helena, Montana for a wonderful work opportunity for my husband Tim, as well as myself and our beloved pets. Prior to accepting the job in Helena, I had been battling with getting my disability claims approved to which I finally won and that provided us the financial means to make the move to Helena. We packed up our lives that we had worked so hard to build in Idaho and moved hours away from our comfort zone and families but we were so excited to experience Helena and the opportunity surrounding us.

Within a few weeks of arriving to Helena, Winky began to experience medical issues and we were faced with locating a veterinarian that was both experienced with special needs cats and was accepting new patients. We hit so many roadblocks which was beyond stressful. Our stress surrounding this issue became even more alarming when I woke up from a nap and noticed that Winky’s eye had protruded from the socket. This had happened once before while we were living in Idaho but it was not nearly as severe as this time around. We were frantic and called multiple vet offices in our area and none were able to see Winky — and for anyone who is familiar, eye conditions require immediate intervention in order to save the eye/eye sight. Thankfully we went inside a random vet clinic here and when they saw her comdition they didn't turn us away. With this, our senior cat had a seizure and winky got some eye infections and we had no choice but to drive an hour away from Helena to a veterinary emergency clinic for treatment because no vet here would see them at the time.

Because of Winky’s ongoing medical concerns and the need for us to be closer to specialty veterinarians, that we didn’t realize Helena didn’t have, we have been faced with an unfortunate need to relocate. Tim was able to secure another position within his current company in Salt Lake City, Utah. This area offers optimal services for Winky to be provided with not only primary veterinary care but specialty care from Internal Medicine for her megacolon to multiple Ophthalmologists to treat and monitor her ongoing eye issues as a result of the protrusion.

This has not been an easy decision for us to make, financially or emotionally, but for the sake of Winky’s health (and my husband's) — it was imperative and important. And because of this decision and due to our recent move only six months ago, we have been faced with the financial constraints that comes with moving. Tim will, unfortunately, be off of work for 2 weeks prior to our move and we’ve been given a date of December 12th, 2022 to arrive in Salt Lake City in order for Tim to start his new position. All of this has happened so quickly (within the past week) and now we’re faced with the stress of pulling together enough funds to make this move happen.

The total amount being fundraised is to help with breaking our current lease, assisting with the deposit/ first & last months rent for a new apartment + a pet deposit for our animals, paying movers as I am currently unable to help pack due to ongoing spinal pain that my doctor is treating me for every other day, new tires on our vehicle to drive safely in the snow through the mountains, and for any emergencies that may arise during the moving process. We know and understand that this may be a lot to ask for but we’re hoping that our community will come together to help us make this move happen, for the health and safety of Winky and all of us. We had so many plans in Helena and had hoped that this would be our new home but we’ve realized the reality of our situation and would appreciate any assistance that each of you can provide. No donation amount is too small and we will be forever grateful for your generosity.

I have an etsy shop called Winkcarus_Boutique if you'd like to check it out. Anything helps! I'm still working out the details and costs of everything so the goal might change. Thank you for caring. - Tim & Heather.