Fighting For Valentine's Life

Help Us Save Valentine — Our Soul Cat

Hi everyone,

My name is Kirsten, and I’m fundraising for my cat, Valentine — my best friend, my family, and truly, my soul cat. She’s 6 and a half years old, and up until recently, she’s been a healthy, happy girl despite having feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR), which has never caused her any real trouble. But in the past month, Valentine’s health has taken a frightening and confusing turn.

How It Started

About a month ago, Valentine began throwing up a few times a day. She was still eating, drinking, playing — acting like herself — so we thought it might just be a stubborn hairball. After a few days of monitoring and giving her some laxatone, things suddenly changed: she stopped eating completely.

We rushed her to the vet. Her initial exam looked fine — no fever, no pain, no dehydration — so we tried anti-nausea meds and an appetite stimulant. It helped briefly. But as soon as the meds wore off, the vomiting came back worse than before — up to 10 times a day. She had diarrhea, wasn’t eating again, and developed a fever.

Blood work and x-rays came next. Everything came back mostly normal, except for an elevated white blood cell count and signs of inflammation in her intestines. We hospitalized her for two days for fluids, antibiotics, and supportive care. Again, she improved while on medication. But once we stopped, the same cycle repeated — vomiting, fever, no appetite, and ongoing GI issues.

What We Know Now

We finally got her in for an emergency ultrasound. It showed thickened intestines and enlarged, reactive lymph nodes — pointing to one of two serious conditions: IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) or GI lymphoma. The only way to know for sure is through a biopsy of her intestines.

These two diseases are treated similarly at first — steroids, B12, anti-nausea meds, and a prescription diet — but their outcomes are very different.

IBD is manageable and could allow Valentine to live a full, happy life.

Lymphoma, especially small-cell lymphoma, can also be managed with chemotherapy and supportive care, potentially giving her several more years.

Large-cell lymphoma, while less likely, is more aggressive and may mean only months if diagnosed — but treatment could still improve her comfort and extend her time.

One thing I really want to emphasize: chemotherapy in cats is not like chemotherapy in humans. Cats do not lose their fur, and they typically don’t experience severe side effects like nausea or fatigue. The goal is not to cure but to improve quality of life — and in many cases, chemo helps cats feel better, not worse. It’s gentle, and many cats tolerate it extremely well.

Why We’re Asking for Help

If Valentine were much older, I might not be pursuing this route. But she’s still so young. I owe it to her to do everything I can to give her the best possible chance at a long, healthy life.

Valentine isn’t just a cat — she’s my heart. I adopted her with my late boyfriend, Eric, when I was 19 and he was 20. It was Valentine’s Day, and we weren’t planning to adopt anyone — just visiting a pet store to play with the animals. But Eric fell in love with a tiny Siamese kitten and refused to leave without her. We named her Valentine. She became the center of our world.

Just a few months later, Eric passed away suddenly. Valentine and I grieved him together. She moved back home with me, stayed by my side during an abusive relationship, and never left me when I was bedridden for seven months from a chronic illness. She has been with me through everything.

She was also there when I met the person who would become my future wife — and Valentine fell in love with her just as much as I did. Now, when I say we in this story, I mean me and Valentine. But I also mean me and my fiancée. The two of them are truly inseparable — two peas in a pod. Watching them together is one of the great joys of my life, and it’s one of the many reasons I’m fighting so hard for Valentine’s health. We both are.

How Donations Will Help

I’ve set the goal high because I want to be fully prepared — for diagnostics, treatments, and all possibilities. Every dollar will go toward:

Internal medicine consultations

Biopsy procedures (endoscopic, surgical, or PARR)

Additional diagnostic testing

Ongoing medications and treatments

Chemotherapy, if necessary

We know times are hard. Even if you can’t donate, simply sharing Valentine’s story would mean the world to us. And if you are able to give — no matter how small — please know that we are endlessly grateful. Every bit brings us closer to a diagnosis, a treatment plan, and more time with our precious girl.

If you’d like to follow Valentine’s journey and see more of her day-to-day, I’ve been sharing videos and updates on TikTok: @lil_tachy — come meet her and cheer her on.

Thank you for reading, sharing, and supporting.

With love,

Kirsten, Bailey, & Valentine