Rumpus (@itsrumpustime) is my little orange sour-patch cat, beloved for his intelligent mind and jacked shoulders. He’s known for unlocking our dishwasher, climbing cabinets, obsessively grooming his brother Vino, and keeping everyone engaged with his conversational meows.

He was born to be a star. In 2020, when my husband said "I think our next cat should be named Rumpus" and later "I think Rumpus should be orange" , a tiny orange kitten with the brain of a velociraptor shot down from the sky in a spaceship, hid his little alien arms, listed himself on petfinder (as 'Atlas') and awaited his destiny.

Recently, Rumpus overestimated the abilities of his intestines. While he was loaning out the brain cell to an orange cat in need, he ate a large piece of a calming collar - which led to an emergency obstruction surgery. I don't know if he thought ingesting the collar would make it more effective but no one has been calm since he did.

Thankfully he was able to be treated quickly, but the unexpected medical bills have currently added up to $4,414 (honestly, by far the cheapest of the 3 obstruction surgeries between these two beautiful idiots because we were able to get him into a pet hospital instead of the ER). When he had an obstruction surgery at 6 months old, no amount of medication could keep him from ripping open his stitches as he tried to break free from his recovery prison resulting in a disgusting infection and weeks of vet visits. From that moment on he thought he was invincible, never clocking that I was the only reason he survived. Collars and onesies have come a long way since then and we know not to use gabapentin this time… but Rumpus hasn’t changed. The next 10-14 days of keeping him contained will feel like an eternity to him (and us).

I could talk about Rumpus all day, but I'll get to the difficult part. As many of you know, our family went through a huge transition in April when we bought our new home. It has been an incredibly exciting (and very expensive) year for us.

A few of our followers commented or dm'ed me suggesting we set up a GoFundMe for those who feel compelled to support Rumpus during his recovery. We really hesitated because we always try to handle things on our own, but this year has been a lot. So thank you to the friends who reminded me that it’s okay to accept a helping hand from people who are rooting for him through their screen while we focus on keeping him calm for the next couple weeks.

Please do not feel ANY pressure whatsoever to contribute - at all. I'm already so thankful for everyone who loves Rumpus’s antics as much as I do and that will never change. If you do choose to donate, every single dollar will go directly toward his medical bills.

Thank you all for the encouragement, advice, and love you have already shown us over the last couple of days. I will keep you updated on his healing journey! The day he can scale the cabinets again will be a joyous day for us all.