Aid Needed for Dan's Ongoing Care and Comfort

Dan is my first cat I have adopted and owned with my boyfriend about 3 years ago. I am 21 and he is 22! Dan is 4, going to be 5 in November! He is a 3-legged big baby and the bestest friend you could ever have. He has been nothing but loving and such a sweet, sweet boy ever since we first saw him at the shelter and he kept meowing at us to take him home! I don’t know what I would do without him around cuddling with me all day and night.

Recently, Dan was having some trouble going to the bathroom and looked in very bad pain, trying to go around the house but nothing coming out. We took him to the vet and he found what was a blockage and FIC (feline idiopathic cystitis) disease. This could be very deadly and the end of his life if it were not to be caught as early as I did. They drained him and the amount of drainage seemed to be a good sign, he said, but then he had to have a catheter put in for 2 nights. This ended up being $340 itself :(. I ended up taking him to a different vet again because the original was closed the next day, and also because he seemed to go in large amounts at first and it lessened and I wanted to be sure it was okay. They think the catheter might have been clogged with clots or whatnot, so they cleaned that out, gave us some antibiotics, and it returned back to large amounts. This was $124.

As of today, October 3rd 2024, we went back to the first vet to get the catheter removed and he snipped it out. We are now home, waiting to see if he can go on his own. He did try twice but nothing happened, and they said to give him all of today to see what happens and we will go from there.

Unfortunately, even if he is okay after this, he will suffer from this for the rest of his life; the disease cannot go away and he can only eat urinary tract food by the Hills brand and nothing else. Sadly, it is very costly and I also have a dog and another cat to make sure they have better stuff from now on too. Depends on the amount you get, but a pack of 24 cans can go from $75. I could only get 4 for $25 from the vet and from now on can only get it from there and their website until they write him a script. We are on can 3 of 4 because he needs to also eat as much as he can because it’s basically the medicine for it they told me. They said he should switch between wet and dry food to stay hydrated forever, so I would love to stock up on both if everything goes right today so I don’t have to worry about it when I absolutely have nothing to get it later on!

He also is at risk for it to just happen all over again right after it being taken out, to get another blockage and it may not be caught fast enough in time the next time, and I’m also just not sure what else they can do again after that. He’s also at risk to just have flare-ups but not full blockages for the rest of his life, if this does pass, so I have to make sure I keep an eye on him and try to catch it early every time, so we can take him and they’ll have to flush him out again.

There is one last surgery that can stop the chances of blockages forever, but it is around $1,000-$4,500 from looking it up online, and he can still have flare-ups, but I know I cannot afford that anytime soon. I work 5 days a week and my checks are lower than most of the vet bills alone :(, and recently have had to take this whole week off to be home to watch him with the catheter and after it’s out to watch his bathroom usage and keep him from touching the wound.

Any help would be so much appreciated. Dan is only 4, about to be 5, and has so, so much more life to live and memories to make with us. I want him to enjoy his birthday and he loves laying under the Christmas tree, so I think he loves Christmas time too!! I always try my hardest to make all the holidays about them too :)! I would do absolutely anything for him to at least be better and manageable through life without being at risk of death from blockages. We love him so much and it breaks my whole heart that this has happened to him so young! Thank you!!