Ember is a 5 year old cat who is the sweetest little guy you'll ever meet. He loves belly rubs and cuddles, and his favourite toy is a laser pointer, which you can often see him chasing around the house, with his parents in tow. About a week ago, we noticed he wasn't peeing as much as he should be and was moving around very carefully. He was also in a lot of pain, throwing up a lot, and generally being very unwell. We took him to the vet, who was immediately concerned and whisked him away for an emergency catheterization procedure to relieve the urinary obstruction.

We found out 2 days later that there were crystals that had built up in his urine and was scratching up his bladder, causing extremely painful inflammation. It had also made its way up to his kidneys, causing an acute kidney injury. Our poor boy spent all that time at the vet, and the prognosis at that point was that we could either spend $10,000-15,000 on a surgery to salvage his urinary tract, or let him go as it was felt that more catheterization would make the problem worse.

We love our sweet boy so much that we decided to go to another place for a second opinion. Those vets were incredible and used all sorts of skill to bring Ember back. These vets were able to determine that Ember also has an underlying heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which requires specific treatment and intervention. 

Over the course of a week, he progressively got better and better! He had to get a feeding tube (as pictured here), catheterized, and exposed to multiple tests and procedures as well as requiring oxygen to support his lungs. 

But if anyone knows Ember, they know that he's a fighter, and that's exactly what he did!

By the end of the week, we found out that he could pee on his own and the obstruction was relieved. A huge relief for us as well, considering he was recommended for surgery just days before. We were so overjoyed that he could come home with us, without the surgery and in much better shape!

Even though there was no surgery, the vet bills piled right up. For overnight stays at both hospitals, the costs of repeated catheters, pain medications and tests--the bill became enormous. 

We're overjoyed that our kitty is safe and sound, but now we have this huge bill to pay. Because of this, we're hoping to raise approximately $6000.00 (that totals everything--overnight stays at both hospitals, catheters, x rays and ultrasound tests, medications, etc). 

As anyone that has met Ember would attest, he is an absolute joy of a cat, and an invaluable member of our family. Please consider donating in the amount that you are able to and if possible, sharing this amongst your own social networks. Thank you so much. The two of us (and Ember) are grateful for your support in this critical time for our family.