Hello, dear friends & family,

I have been extremely reluctant in creating this GoFundMe on my behalf, because I'm a very proud disabled veteran, but I'm living on a very small pension and desperately need your help, please.

Recently, my incredibly peaceful respite was turned upside down in an instant. I had left town to decompress for a few days and came back to find my precious purr-baby, Zuri, hiding underneath the blankets on my bed and refusing to come out, which is definitely unlike her. Once I coaxed her out, she was visibly frightened and unable to put any weight upon her rear leg. It was truly heartbreaking, yet concerning. Furthermore, it was quite curious to me when I walked into the house, my 3-foot long sound bar was dangeling off of my mantel and a vase & some candlesticks on a very tall cabinet in my living room had clearly been shifted. I was completely puzzled. The first thing that came to mind was that an earthquake had occurred while I was away, because my purr-babies are trained to never jump up onto the countertops and/or furniture (other than the couch, chairs, ottoman, side tables, etc). So, it's obvious that my purr-babies were definitely spooked and/or frightened by her dog coming into the house, because nothing like that had ever happened before in nearly 10 years.

Anyway, while I was desperately trying to find a vet that could get her in that day for an exam and x-ray, I reached out to my neighbors that were caring for my purr-babies while I was out-of-town and asked if they had noticed anything strange or wrong with Zuri while they were here either Weds or Thurs. My neighbor's daughter said that Zuri "seemed totally fine" when she last saw her Thursday morning; however, my neighbor said that Zuri got "spooked" by her very large, hyper dog when she brought him into my house WITHOUT my permission. Had she asked, then I would have told her, "Absolutely not," because my purr-babies were once terrorized by a friend's pit bull chased aggressively into the basement a few years ago and narrowly escaped injury; therefore, they are not particularly fond of dogs at all, like many cats, though. My neighbor apologized and said, "If you need to take her in to be checked, let me know and I'll take care of it." At that point, I was relieved, since I now knew what had happened while I was away and my neighbor assumed responsibility and was willing to help with Zuri's vet bills. However, her willingness to help me with Zuri's vet bills soon came to an end when it was determined that Zuri would require surgery to repair two potentially torn ligaments supporting her right rear knee.

Before I continue on, I'd like to provide a lil' background on my sweet purr-babies, Neo & Zuri. They both are very "dog-like"; they always greet me at the door wagging their tails when I come home; they come when I call them (95% of the time...lol...they're cats); they follow me wherever I go; they cuddle with me the moment I sit or lie down; they sleep with me throughout the night until I wake; they play fetch & hide-n-seek; and, they have been incredibly bonded with one another since 2016. Thus, this incident has greatly disrupted our routine, our life here at home. Since that day, I've been forced to lock Zuri in my bedroom to ensure that she doesn't further injure herself. She's now basically like an infant where she cries incessantly and wakes me up every hour or two throughout the night, because she's so uncomfortable, definitely not used to being confined, and certainly missing Neo. Additionally, Neo cries incessantly and sleeps on the landing outside the bedroom door, because he misses both Zuri and me, and our "snuggle time" each night. To be honest, I'm utterly exhausted. And, unfortunately, due to my neighbor's negligence and lack of respect, we are forced to live within this arrangement for nearly THREE months. Needless to say, we're all stressed to the max. And, on top of it all, Neo has started frequently licking walls and Zuri's IBS symptoms (to be frank, bloody, diarrhea & vomiting) that have been quelled for years have sadly returned. And, if I leave the house for more than a few hours, I have to drug her up, due to the fact that she suffers from separation anxiety, especially since she can't be left in the same room with Neo during this time, in order to prevent them from playing with one another and potentially thwarting her healing process. Because she tore two ligaments (her meniscus and cranial cruciate ligament}, they essentially had to cut & rotate the top of the tibia (shin bone) to reduce the strain on the ligament and secure the bones together with a metal plate & screws. Unfortunately, the healing process is quite long (one year), and if there are any issues with the healing process, she'll potentially have a limp for the remainder of her life, or worse, have to have another surgery. However, the surgeon confirmed that her injuries were most likely caused by the traumatic event where she was spooked by my neighbor's dog, not only because she tore two ligaments at once, but because she only weighs a mere 7 pounds and there was very little arthritis evident during her surgery.

As for my neighbor, she willingly paid $300 towards Zuri's initial $450 vet bill, which I greatly appreciated, but after I met with the orthopedic surgeon, she refused to pay anymore. I even pleaded for her to either pay for half of the vet bills or file a claim against her homeowner's policy, which I thought was a fair compromise for the both of us, but she refused and suggested that I "call around to find someone cheaper." At that point, I was infuriated and respectfully asked her if she would consider lesser care for either of her children or her pets. Since then, she's ghosted me and even blocked me on social media, which is a bit extreme in my opinion, but now I am the one left with the $6000 bill that was a result of her carelessness and lack of integrity. So, as a medically-retired veteran, living merely on disability and a very small pension, I am reaching out to all of you to ask if you'd be willing to help me pay for this unexpected expense that I've unfairly and sadly incurred. Every little bit will help me tremendously, even $5, towards the $6000 that I now owe for Zuri's vet bills. I'd be so incredibly grateful! And, if times are tough for you, too, then I completely understand and kindly ask that you simply share my GoFundMe link, please. Thank you so very much!