Help Save Jeff the Cat's Life With a Life-Saving Surgery

Hi all. Some of you know me in person, many of you may not. My name is Kirk and I want to tell you about Jeff, what they mean to me, and what this fundraiser is about.

I think I can safely say that each one of us has someone else, another soul, that they would do and give anything for, to ensure they live their best life. This is beyond friendships, relationships, and familial bonds; this one soul is your entire world. For me, this is Jeff, my cat. Him and I have gone through a lot together and, quite frankly, I owe Jeff for saving my life in many ways. I honestly don't know what I would do without him and that scares me.

Background

Now to get to what is happening. He has chronic and hereditary crystals/stones in his bladder. Even though measures have been taken to reduce the likelihood of their occurrence AND severity when they appear (such as specialized food, etc), he has still become fully blocked and unable to urinate in the past. This blockage is life threatening if gone untreated and can take a cat from full health to death within a matter of 24-48 hours. If you are interested in learning more about this condition, I recommend clicking on the Urinary Tract Blockages in Male Cats link.

I have successfully been able to get him treated in time when he has been blocked and I have also had a previous surgery done where the Vet opens the bladder and scoops out any debris they find. This more invasive surgery did work, however the purveyance of his crystals/stones remains.

Once again, a week or so ago, he became blocked. Due to the emergency status of it happening, and with it being over the weekend, I had no choice but to seek out an emergency vet to assist. They were able to do enough to tide me over until the next Monday when I could take him to see my normal vet. The blockage was removed and he is in recovery now after being successfully treated by my vet. This was a large sum of money that was needed to not only get him the treatment, but even just the care to get him through the weekend; there was practically no warning leading up to this and only is noticed via behavioural differences or watching them use the litter box. This kind of blockage for him will happen again... unless I get him a surgery that can fix that.

The Surgery

I don't know the exact name of it, but the surgery that can be done is a way to alleviate any future blockages by dealing with the root cause of it. These urinary blockages are very common in male cats due to how large the crystals/stones can be compared to the opening they can pass through. This surgery would make that opening larger to the point where he would not encounter any blockages in the future, even with his history. Not having to encounter an emergency situation like the one I found him in a week ago is the biggest boon this surgery has to offer and would give him a better quality of life. As it stands now, even with the most recent blockage removed, he is still in pain and a new blockage can occur at any time.

With all that being said though, this kind of surgery requires a specialist, and with that, a cost equivalent to needing said specialist.

Cost

So now we come to the cost of what is needed and what's been done thus far. I'm going to break it down as cleanly and concise as I can. Below is a full break down of the costs and where the fundraising amount will be allocated:

Total Cost: $9,000

Why I need your help/My situation

Where do I fit into all of this? What's my situation? Why am I reaching out to ask for help? These, and more, are all good questions, so hopefully I can take a minute or two of your time to explain.

It is something that I still struggle to talk about with others, but I feel this cause deserves full transparency. I suffer from severe depression, anxiety, and a few years back there was an incident that caused me to display signs of PTSD. I have also been diagnosed with something called Reactive Attachment Disorder (you should look it up, it's RAD ;] ) alongside these other mental disorders. I still struggle with these things to this day and while I am actively getting help for them, these still impact my life to the point where I have been unable to work. Jeff has played a huge role in continuing the recovery process and not giving up.

This is where and why I reach out to all of you. I need your help. I have tried to tackle this burden as long as I can alone and have even had some assistance from my immediate family, however there is a limit that we've reached. I am unwilling to be forced to put Jeff down due to lack of funds, especially when a surgery to save his life is just out of my reach. Any pride or ego I may have, I will gladly swallow to help save the life of the one soul I care more about than any other on this planet.

He is my world, my everything, and I plead with you to help save it; save my world.

This is what this cause is all about and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for any and all contributions, large or small, that can be made to help with it.

Thank you for your time. If there are questions, I will do my best to answer them.