Hi! We are Dana and Donavon. We are both artists, and you might know us from larping or Renaissance Faires.

Nugget went into surgery for a urinary blockage. He had been going to the vet often for his anxiety and we were doing everything we could to make him comfortable (including daily doses of gabapentin per the vet.) We started noticing him going to the litter box extra in June so then, July, and August he was back to the vet again. His doctor told us that when cats are stressed and they tense up their little bodies, this can happen. He started taking prazosin to help alleviate but in the end the blockage happened anyway.

He went into emergency surgery Sunday evening/ Monday morning, September 5th. He is still currently in the hospital. They said he is doing well but he has a lot of blood clots around the catheter. They are worried that taking out the catheter too soon would just cause another blockage and we would be back at step 1. This means he is going to need to stay in the hospital longer for extra monitoring. We paid the entire estimate through a combination of different credit cards up front (of course they wouldn’t do the surgery until we did) but all cards are maxed out.

Him needing to stay extra days means more money when it's time to pick him up, and I’m not quite sure how much that would be. Plus any items involved with the aftercare, such as a refill of the prazosin and another supplement called cosequin.

We have been looking into different pet assistance and relief grants. We have applied to Red Rover officially, and are in the process of applying to the Furry Faces Foundation, the Onyx and Breezy Foundation, and the Brown Dog Foundation. Unfortunately many other programs that exist we do not qualify for. We had to pay for all of his expenses up front (unless there are more on the horizon while he's still in the hospital) and a lot of these programs ONLY send money straight to the vet, and do not reimburse individuals.

Extraneous Information:

Some of you might know that Donavon had surgery in May for a rare disease called Achalasia. The surgery did provide relief for all of the swallowing issues he has had ongoing for years, but he is having new symptoms that prove something else is still going on. We have to pay for his medical bills as well, and many future appointments. Is it lupus? Some other autoimmune disease? Fatty Liver disease? Tune in next week to find out! (This is a joke) (It will probably be months before we find out).

Extra Extraneous Information:

We had been planning to move to a new and quieter apartment for weeks. It will be larger than where we are living, more calming for Nugget, and give us less of a commute (less gas money!) We have already put down a deposit. We might not be able to move at all now. I have yet to see if I can get the deposit back or if it is lost forever.