Hey there, friends. I’m Shoshana, caregiver for Eloise the Cat (aka Sweetie Mama, Eloise Peneloise, and Beauty Baby). A week ago, I rushed Eloise to the vet to learn that her liver had inexplicably started to fail. Today, my partner Jen and I brought her up to the Iowa State University small animal emergency clinic where she was assessed and admitted for an ultrasound, lab work, and the insertion of an NG tube for supplemental feeding since she’s been unable to eat for days. She has lost 40% of her body weight, is severely jaundiced, and while we still don’t know what has caused her rapid and dramatic decline, it’s clear from her bloodwork that her liver is no longer functioning correctly and there is an excess of bilirubin in her bloodstream. At this juncture the specialists at ISU are trying to determine if we’re looking at cancer, an issue with her bile ducts, a secondary infection resulting from gut inflammation, or something else. Throughout all the testing and poking and prodding and discomfort, our lovely girl has remained as loving and sweet as ever, even though she clearly feels awful.

We went to ISU with a very pragmatic outlook: if they told us Eloise was beyond healing, we were prepared to make the heartbreaking decision to let her go. But remarkably, against the odds, she appears to have some fighting spirit left, and the vet is cautiously optimistic that she will still pull through, as long as they can solve the mystery of her illness and get her started on supportive care immediately. Eloise is a young kitty—she’s only five years old—and she has two mamas who love her, her own kiddo (our second cat, Ernest) with whom she’s deeply bonded, a dog she adores (our elderly pup Molly), and a six-year-old best buddy to return home to. So, we are proceeding with treatment with a lot of unknowns at play.

As you might imagine, a life-threatening condition is not inexpensive to address. In the last week I spent over $4,600 on vet care, and today I was informed that I’m likely looking at a final figure closer to $6,000. Eloise will need medications and prescription food longterm, she received a blood transfusion (her RBC are very low—10% when they should be 35%-45%) and may need at least one more, and there will be additional procedures. As the head of a single parent household, this is a very heavy financial burden for me. I’m contending with two mortgages, monthly expenses to deal with my own chronic illness, and no savings after being laid off three times in the last six years (yep, Eloise’s care is going straight onto a credit card). This month also brought with it some unfortunate health news of my own, so having to contend with those expenses plus thousands of dollars to save Eloise’s life is…well, it’s a lot. I’m humbly asking for community support in this moment of need. If you’re inclined to throw a few dollars toward getting Eloise back to her chonky, floofy, fabulous self, I’d be ever so grateful. If you are unable to financially support us, please share my request for help; every little boost helps, truly.

(Supporting us through Venmo avoids the high fees taken by GFM: @queerout_the_closet)

We appreciate you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.