My friend Amanda has just had to say goodbye to her beloved cat Pluto. Pluto had been her companion for nearly two decades. Her presense has provided Amanda so much comfort and joy during the ups and downs of life. Seeing how they both took care of each other, and in some ways, blossomed into adults together has been a true delight in my own life (and perhaps in yours!). Amanda has been there for me when I needed her, and I knew that Pluto was always there for Amanda.

Amanda had been treating Pluto's kidney disease for some time now, making sure that she had safe food to eat and regular medical care. So, of course when Pluto had some new acute symptoms, she took her in to the veterinarian. The veterinary team saw that Pluto was even worse off than she seemed, but thought that she could recover from the crisis with medical support. So Pluto stayed at the veterinary hospital for two days, getting treatments. There were some small improvements and hopeful signs at first, so Amanda and the team contiued to do what they could to help Pluto recover. However, sadly, they were not able to help Pluto turn a corner. She would no longer eat or drink on her own and the vet no longer thought recovery was likely. So after two days, Amanda brought her home, and, without seeing any further improvements at home, made the very difficult decision to humanely euthanize her.

So now, while Amanda is mourning her beloved and constant companion, she is also overwhelmed with the bills from this crisis. If we can lighten that burden for her, I would deeply appreciate it. She has done her best to minimize expenses without compromising Pluto's care (like opting for a communal cremation rather than getting Pluto's ashes back), but vet care is expensive and the total of nearly $5000 feels astronomical.

Please help with what you can and share this page with others.

If you have any fond memories of Pluto or kind words, you are invited to share them in the comments.

Thank you.