Blackbeard and Bootstrap treatment fund.

I am reaching out to all of my friends and family to ask for support in treating my fosters, Blackbeard (Blacky) and Boot Strap Bill (Booty). I don’t usually ask for help but their lives depend upon me. I wanted to do something fulfilling and so for the first time I volunteered with an animal rescue group. I began fostering for All About Animals Rescue (AAA) and was very fortunate with a healthy foster cat that eventually got adopted. I felt so much joy from my first foster experience and soon after I offered to take a new case. I was given a mama with a fresh litter of kittens. I was admittedly apprehensive because of the kittens’ young age. The rescue team reassured me about the easy task since the mama cat would do most, if not all the work. Calypso was an excellent mom and cared for her litter and even a few orphans from another litter! She was so sweet and cuddly, while looking after her babies. The three kittens were all overly fat from the excess amount of milk and attention that she gave. They would all grow up healthy with minimal issues and then be placed up for adoption. The boys’ sister, Sparrow and their mom, Calypso would get adopted fairly quickly. But the boys got overlooked time and time again and I would soon get a message asking to pick them up because they were appearing sick. 

When I picked them up, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Eye and nose discharge that would eventually lead to cloudiness and blood in their corneas. The boys acted lethargic and were dehydrated. The rescue provided medical support for the boys and emotional support to me. I had such a positive experience as a foster and Cat Mom before these boys and I thought I had done something wrong or simply just not enough. There were a lot of sleepless nights and tears over them, and truthfully there still are. The boys were on countless meds and they would show progress and then quickly decline. I was at odds with what had happened to them from that short period of time, where they were fat and playful babies to the listless and unthrifty “teens” they had become. Then they began acting neurological and I panicked. Blacky would fall over while walking on a flat floor! And then Booty followed suit. I was horrified! All the while, they were medically supported but the medication did not help. The rescue team felt that the boys may have Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) and we collected all their medical data and shared it with a group of experts and it was confirmed. I had heard from a few other fosters how terrible the disease was and how expensive the treatment would be. It was not the news I had wanted. The rescue offers lots of medical support to fosters but this treatment is just too expensive for them to assist with. So I chose to get the experimental drug and try to save their lives. In the short period of time that I have been providing the new treatment, I have seen the neurological issues slowly go away. I saw their interest in food increase and their energy levels perking up. I get to see firsthand that this treatment is making a positive impact. I often post videos of them and their progress and I am hopeful that some of you can see the progression and offer support to these two precious boys! They are only 7 months old and haven’t been able to live up to their full potential so far. The treatment is more expensive since I am treating both kittens.  How can you choose one brother over another?

I have two Son’s that have serious medical conditions.  I give everything to ensure they have the care they need.  I had to do the same for these babies.

 Please help me to treat them for FIP, so that they can continue to grow and find their forever homes!