Hi, my name is Taylar and I’m Fitzgerald’s mom. Asking for help is one of the hardest things to do in this life and I wouldn’t do it if his health wasn’t vital to mine in this crisis. During time of financial strain for all of us every little bit helps. Thank you for reading about my eight year old boy who needs his life saved when he’s saved mine so many times. We need help getting him an ultrasound and continued care given what that ultrasound shows us.

On Friday, August 6th Fitzgerald (aka Fimpy to those who know him closest) was taken to the vet as an emergency as he wouldn’t eat or drink and was hiding in my closet. That day he was diagnosed with diabetes and a potentially fatty liver from rapid weight loss. They suggested an ultrasound (which is very difficult to schedule and is around $700-900 which I could not afford) I received a rundown on injections and we started him on insulin and new food to try our best to get him in diabetic remission - however his liver levels were elevated and climbing and insulin was going to prove to be the least of our worries.

After starting insulin I brought him back on August 10th before a planned trip to California for a recheck of his blood to see if the insulin was working. As the results came back he was dehydrated and his liver was continuing to cause him more and more pain so they rementioned the urgency of an Ultrasound. I stayed home from California to give him subcutaneous IV fluids twice a day and to try to get as many calories as possible into him as well as round the clock care. On Thursday August 8th he began to refuse all food and started to vomit. Upon calling the vet they urged me to get him to an Emergency Room. At this point I’d already exhausted most of my own financial resources and I’d drained my savings. I couldn’t afford to take him and the shame of that was almost too much to bear. I took matters into my own hands and I decided to try force feeding him through a syringe.

As you can imagine that’s a messy process and difficult process even for the best cat. I had to feed him in little bits multiple times a day as to not overwhelm his stomach. There is now blended up wet food all over my apartment and virtually all of my things but it was and continues to be worth it no matter how hard it is to do. Over the course of time since his liver issues continued to rise I slept collectively 25 hours over the course of a week and I cried myself into a cold and many migraines. I’ve been so stressed out some of my hair is falling out. However this time of intensive care at home has taught me the invaluable lesson of what it truly means to care for another living being.

I took him in for more blood work on August 15th before returning to work after staying home from California. We sent his blood work to a larger lab to rest of pancreatic issues to see if that’s what’s continuing to cause the liver issues. Thankfully most of his liver levels are either returning to normal or they’re dropping significantly - the force feeding worked! - except not entirely. His bilirubin continues to climb. By this point the vet has once again mentioned how vital an ultrasound is as we believe there’s a blockage causing his bile to back up. This is where we are now. We’re continuing fluids at home via IV once a day but in order to continue his care we need to have an ultrasound and potential surgery to remove the blockage.

To explain to you why this cat is the most important thing in my life would be impossible but I’d like to try. I’d never believed in an animal being your soulmate until this cat came into my life. He has been the most important thing in my world from day one. He’s let me cry into him during the toughest moments of my life (leaving an abusive relationship, moving to a new city, through the suicide of my best friend to name a few). He has never abandoned me and it’s my turn not to abandon him. There is no shortage of things I’d do for him to stay alive. Please help me save my boy who loves big windows, sniffing the AC, watching movies with me, greenies, sleeping in my arms or directly on top of me and who can barely leave me alone when I’m in the shower. I don’t know how I’ll survive without him. Thank you. We love you.