Help An Autistic Boy's Cat Survive

Hi, my name is Danielle Rodriguez, and I’m raising money for our family’s (or more importantly my brother’s) beloved cat, Samson.

Right now, Samson is in the emergency animal hospital being treated for a severe total urinary blockage, a life-threatening condition that requires urgent medical intervention as it had begun to shut down his kidneys and heart. He had shown no symptoms until it was almost too late, but we were able to get him to his vet just in time. He’s already received a catheterization, multiple types of medication such as antibiotics, pain, and sedation medication so that the emergency treatments could be done to save his life, but the costs are rising quickly, and we’re running out of options.

We have already paid over $7,000 to save his life but we need an estimated $2,400 more to continue his care and give him the best chance at survival and recovery.

But before I get more into what happened to Samson, I want to talk about who Sam is and what he means to us.

Samson has been a part of our lives for over four years now, and to say that he is just our “pet cat” doesn’t even come close to capturing his role in our family. Samson is the goofball that keeps us laughing, the little rascal who is always messing with his sisters or his brother, an important member of our family, and someone who has helped me laugh and feel happiness on days when my own anxiety and bipolar disorder have made me feel that things were just too much to handle.

Aside from all of that though, Samson is my brother’s emotional support cat, but in all honesty, calling him that feels inadequate. My brother is 14 years old and is on the Autism Spectrum. Navigating a world with an autism diagnosis often feels overwhelmingly isolating and difficult. He has struggled with many things in his short life, like regulating his emotions for as long as I can remember. His anxiety, his difficulty identifying and processing emotions, and his deep loneliness were all things we tried to help him with to the best of our abilities. But nothing has helped him more than having Samson in his life. Samson has been a lifeline. He’s taught my brother how to calm down in moments of anxiety or when he is extremely overstimulated and is hyper-fixating on something that is causing him distress. He’s helped him learn to manage his emotions—something that my brother has had difficulty doing on his own. With Samson by his side, my brother has learned not only how to care for Samson but also how to take responsibility for himself. Feeding Samson and making sure he’s okay has given my brother a sense of routine and purpose that he didn’t have before. Samson has been my brother’s friend in ways that no one else has ever been. My brother has faced bullying and exclusion due to his autism diagnosis. He’s had a hard time forming relationships, and we were able to see that the loneliness had taken a toll on him until we had gotten Samson. He gives my brother a love that no one else has been able to provide; one that is comforting, unconditional, and pure. Samson has made my brother feel seen, loved, and like he matters in a way that we could never have imagined.

A week ago, on Monday, May 19th, Samson suffered a complete urinary bladder blockage that nearly cost him his life. The days leading up, he had shown no symptoms of a blockage until the night before when he had vomited his food. This is when we knew something was wrong, and the next day we rushed him to Romie Lane Pet Hospital, where his vet was able to begin working on him immediately. However, throughout the whole process, they kept telling us that his chances of survival were very low because of how bad his bloodwork was coming back and how slow and irregular his heart was. Luck was on our side, and they were able to get the blockage cleared. Although they kept reiterating that his chances of survival were low, they kept working on him. Eventually, they said that he needed 24-hour care that they were unable to provide, and we would either have to transfer him to the 24-hour emergency vet 35 minutes away or explore other options (humane euthanasia). We discussed all our options, and seeing how distressed my brother was at the possibility of losing his soul-kitty and knowing how much Samson meant to us, we knew we had to give him more than 5 hours to fight, so we transferred him to BluePearl Pet Hospital… where we were hit with an astronomical bill of over $4,000 to save his life ($1,000+ at his normal vet and $3,000+ at the emergency vet). We were heartbroken, but we knew we had to do everything in our power to save him because he meant so much to my brother and to us. On the night of Wednesday, May 21st, we were able to bring him home. We were incredibly relieved that he had beat the odds and had survived… only for the blockage to not be fully healed and return within 2/3 days of him being home, and we had to take him back to the emergency vet early Sunday morning, May 25th. The fear and helplessness we all felt were unbearable, and once again, the costs piled up—an additional $3,000 for treatment, and the possibility of having to do a Perineal urethrostomy (PU) surgery on Samson. To make matters worse, the town we live in does not have many surgeons needed for Samson’s surgery, and those around us were giving us surgery prices of $8,000 - $10,000. After seeking multiple opinions, we decided to transfer his care to the Atascadero Pet Hospital on the afternoon of Monday, May 26th, which is almost two hours south of us and offers the surgery (if needed) and ongoing care at a significantly lower cost than the other options we were given. Even still, the expenses are overwhelming—but the important thing is that Samson is getting the care he needs to continue his fight for survival.

I cannot begin to express how much this is taking a toll on my family, especially my brother. His emotions are all over the place, and he has resorted to suppressing them and trying to avoid them. We understand that he is scared and frustrated, but he doesn’t know how to express it and is trying to suppress it. He paces around the house, trying to keep busy, but you can tell that he is missing his cat.

And so, here I am, humbly asking for any help that you can offer. Samson means the world to my brother and our entire family, and we are doing everything we can to make sure he gets the care he needs. But we simply cannot do it alone. I have maxed out my resources to try and get him the help he needs, and I cannot do this alone anymore. I need assistance because I refuse to allow my brother to lose his best friend.

How Your Donation Will Help

Your support will go toward paying for his:

* Emergency veterinary care

* Hospitalization and monitoring

* Medications and procedures to stabilize him

* Any follow-up treatments or recovery care

If there’s any way you can help us, we would be forever grateful.

Samson is not just a pet—he is a best friend, an essential part of my brother’s emotional well-being, and a part of our family. Losing him is not an option we can consider.

We are deeply grateful for any assistance you may be able to provide. Every dollar helps us, and even if you are unable to donate, sharing this campaign means the world to us.

Thank you so much for reading, caring, and helping us fight for Samson.

❤️