Please help my one and a half year old cat, Ancient, fight an autoimmune disease!

I adopted Ancient as a baby, underweight and separated too early from his mother, from a shelter I worked at, at the time.

Recently, we finally escaped a domestic violence circumstance. I extended myself financially to do so. After our new (to us) apartment turned out to have an inadequate and dangerous stove/oven, plumbing issues in the kitchen and bathroom, and items of mine were stolen from inside the private building while moving in, I hoped the stress would begin to lessen so that I could better support my animal babies.

After three weeks of settling in, A was not himself, hardly eating, even after offering only wet food, lots of which was kitten, and lost half his body weight within a week period. Over one night, A developed visible jaundice / hyperbilirubinemia.

After a horrific twelve hours at two different emergency veterinary centers, $15,000 of estimates, and reasoning as to what could be done, I chose to move forward with a blood transfusion, and reevaluating afterwards. With the blood transfusion, A's red blood cell count went from 13% to 25%. I then transferred A to another emergency center in the morning (in which the car ride to, A ate a small amount of one of his favorite wet foods).

After A's improvement in demeanor and appetite post blood transfusion, and more diagnostic testing, a Veterinarian at the third center noted that ultimately, there are too many factors for an origin of his illness to be understood. This Veterinarian began A on an aggressive treatment plan of appetite stimulants, steroids (oral and injections), antibiotics (oral and injections), and anticoagulants. All of A's symptoms, treatment, and medicine will necessitate weekly blood testing, until A is more stable.

There is no timeline to know when A will be "better". At this point in time, once A is more stable, his Veterinarian will (hopefully) determine how often testing is necessary. After stability, once A is showing improvement in his red blood cell count by his own system, then A will be considered for tapering off of his current medications. The tapering stage will also necessitate weekly or biweekly blood testing.

Ancient's road to recovery has no timeline. Regardless of his experience at four different Veterinary centers, with countless DVMs, RVTs, and other professionals in 72-hours, Ancient is determined to be his playful, darling, and caring self again.

Now that he is home, Ancient has been eager to groom himself, and his senior dog sister, eat all the wet food he can manage before falling asleep, watch the birds from the window, make biscuits, and even a little bit of a ruckus.

Before Ancient, I fed, cared for, and caught (for TNR spay/neuters) an incredible amount of community cats. I told friends that one day, as an old woman, I would love to care for a cat of my own. Ancient came into my life serendipitously, and has been an incredible source of joy for myself and others, even in what I hope to be my darkest time.

Though I named him for his appearance (and incredible wisdom), Ancient is not even two years old. I have always tried to make every day he has on this earth even as half as special as he is to me. I would greatly appreciate any assistance in helping him feel better, and continue his journey to a healthier self. All of my gratitude and love to anyone that is able to support him by sharing his story, and or donating.

Thank you for your time, and for reading.