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First of all, I want to thank everyone who is taking time out of their day to read this. Marie and I appreciate it so much.
I'll get to the point quickly for those who don't want the background and elaborate after for those who do: Marie is sick. After spending almost $1000 already, we still don't know what is wrong with her. She needs extensive testing that will cost at least another $1200 if we want a diagnosis. I'm hoping to gather funds to be able to find a diagnosis and treat whatever is ailing her. She is my baby – anyone who knows me, even the tiniest little bit, knows how much I love and adore her. I'm currently unemployed and waiting for EI. If you can help me with any amount – and I mean any amount, no matter how small – I would so incredibly thankful.
For the full story, here it goes: on October 18th, I noticed Marie was having some trouble opening her left eye and that there was some yellow gunk coming out of it. I took her to the vet for an exam, and was told it was probably an eye infection, but that her gums were looking a little paler than they should and that she was dehydrated, so he gave me antibiotics and said we should come back in a week. That was $104.
Here's a photo of the bill for accountability:
(Please note that I also bought some cat food that cost about $10, hence the total of $114)
A week later, her eye infection had cleared up but when I looked closer, it had a yellowish tinge. I looked at her gums and the inside of her ears, basically wherever she didn't have fur, and saw she was definitely yellowing. I called my vet immediately and told them I had an appointment for later in the evening but just wanted to let them know my cat was a little yellow. Immediately, they told me to get her to an emergency vet where they could do immediate blood tests. They told me a jaundiced cat was something to be very concerned about. So, off to the emergency vet I went.
At the emergency vet, they did a simple blood test that came up inconclusive. She was definitely jaundiced, they said, and she had a fever. Something was wrong with her, but they didn't know what. Basically, they told me it could be a huge range of things from FIP to liver failure to hepatic lipidosis. They told me there was nothing I could do except wait for it to get even worse and then take her there again.
Here's the bill from that night, as well as the blood test results. It cost a total of $353.08.
Obviously, something was wrong with Marie. She was jaundiced, so something was affecting her liver, and she had a fever, so her body was fighting something. I couldn't understand how a vet could tell me to "wait for it to get even worse" when she was clearly sick now. So I made an appointment with another vet, one that had treated my other cat before, and waited to see what came of that appointment.
She agreed with me that "wait" was not good advice, and we needed to do something now to find out what was going on inside Marie's little body. We did a much more elaborate blood panel for her and tested for FeLV, FIV, and other common diseases it could be. I wish I had the results sheet for this but they just called me to tell the results. I emailed them asking for a copy and will add them here once I get them.
For now, here is the bill for that visit, which cost $492.91.
The results were, again, inconclusive. They couldn't find anything in her blood – but she was still jaundiced and still had a fever. Clearly, something was wrong with her. Now is where you come in. These bills above have been paid for, but we still don't know what is causing Marie's illness, so we need more testing. These tests are going to cost more money, money that I simply don't have right now.
The vet has given me estimates for what she wants to do, and those include:
- $270 for medications (for anti-nausea medication, an appetite stimulant, an anti-inflammatory for her liver, and some liver support supplements to give her over-worked liver a rest while we find out what's wrong)
- $445 for an abdominal ultrasound (to see if anything physical, like a liver tumour, might be the cause)
- $160 for a re-test of the blood already in the lab (to test for more, less common things, like blood parasites)
- $261 for a follow-up appointment and blood test in three weeks (to see how she is doing and if anything has changed
Those will total to about $1130. Again, that is money I just don't have right now. I wish more than anything that I didn't have to ask for help, but I've exhausted all other resources. This is only to get a diagnosis. I'll keep everyone updated on what happens next and how much that may cost, but right now I just want to thank you for however much you can spare.
I can't just let Marie be sick and not do anything about it. I can't let her suffer and then die just because I was unemployed and couldn't afford to give her the care she needs – she doesn't deserve that.
As someone who has suffered from depression and anxiety for years, Marie has been the light of my life since I adopted her two and a half years ago when she was only a little baby. She's the first pet I ever had, and my other half. I can't even describe how much she means to me. If there's any chance that I can help her through this, I have to take it.
If I make an excess of funds and am able to cover all vet expenses that Marie's illness incurs, I will donate all extra funds to the Toronto Cat Rescue, which is where I volunteer and where my sweet Marie was adopted from in July of 2017. They do incredible work and deserve as much funding as possible. If it comes to that, I will post screenshots of the donations for accountability. I will continue updating this with any and all vet bills.
If you read all this, thank you so much. I honestly can't find the words to tell you how important Marie is to me, and how much I appreciate your time in reading about how you can help her. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and hers.
I'll get to the point quickly for those who don't want the background and elaborate after for those who do: Marie is sick. After spending almost $1000 already, we still don't know what is wrong with her. She needs extensive testing that will cost at least another $1200 if we want a diagnosis. I'm hoping to gather funds to be able to find a diagnosis and treat whatever is ailing her. She is my baby – anyone who knows me, even the tiniest little bit, knows how much I love and adore her. I'm currently unemployed and waiting for EI. If you can help me with any amount – and I mean any amount, no matter how small – I would so incredibly thankful.
For the full story, here it goes: on October 18th, I noticed Marie was having some trouble opening her left eye and that there was some yellow gunk coming out of it. I took her to the vet for an exam, and was told it was probably an eye infection, but that her gums were looking a little paler than they should and that she was dehydrated, so he gave me antibiotics and said we should come back in a week. That was $104.
Here's a photo of the bill for accountability:
(Please note that I also bought some cat food that cost about $10, hence the total of $114)
A week later, her eye infection had cleared up but when I looked closer, it had a yellowish tinge. I looked at her gums and the inside of her ears, basically wherever she didn't have fur, and saw she was definitely yellowing. I called my vet immediately and told them I had an appointment for later in the evening but just wanted to let them know my cat was a little yellow. Immediately, they told me to get her to an emergency vet where they could do immediate blood tests. They told me a jaundiced cat was something to be very concerned about. So, off to the emergency vet I went.
At the emergency vet, they did a simple blood test that came up inconclusive. She was definitely jaundiced, they said, and she had a fever. Something was wrong with her, but they didn't know what. Basically, they told me it could be a huge range of things from FIP to liver failure to hepatic lipidosis. They told me there was nothing I could do except wait for it to get even worse and then take her there again.
Here's the bill from that night, as well as the blood test results. It cost a total of $353.08.
Obviously, something was wrong with Marie. She was jaundiced, so something was affecting her liver, and she had a fever, so her body was fighting something. I couldn't understand how a vet could tell me to "wait for it to get even worse" when she was clearly sick now. So I made an appointment with another vet, one that had treated my other cat before, and waited to see what came of that appointment.
She agreed with me that "wait" was not good advice, and we needed to do something now to find out what was going on inside Marie's little body. We did a much more elaborate blood panel for her and tested for FeLV, FIV, and other common diseases it could be. I wish I had the results sheet for this but they just called me to tell the results. I emailed them asking for a copy and will add them here once I get them.
For now, here is the bill for that visit, which cost $492.91.
The results were, again, inconclusive. They couldn't find anything in her blood – but she was still jaundiced and still had a fever. Clearly, something was wrong with her. Now is where you come in. These bills above have been paid for, but we still don't know what is causing Marie's illness, so we need more testing. These tests are going to cost more money, money that I simply don't have right now.
The vet has given me estimates for what she wants to do, and those include:
- $270 for medications (for anti-nausea medication, an appetite stimulant, an anti-inflammatory for her liver, and some liver support supplements to give her over-worked liver a rest while we find out what's wrong)
- $445 for an abdominal ultrasound (to see if anything physical, like a liver tumour, might be the cause)
- $160 for a re-test of the blood already in the lab (to test for more, less common things, like blood parasites)
- $261 for a follow-up appointment and blood test in three weeks (to see how she is doing and if anything has changed
Those will total to about $1130. Again, that is money I just don't have right now. I wish more than anything that I didn't have to ask for help, but I've exhausted all other resources. This is only to get a diagnosis. I'll keep everyone updated on what happens next and how much that may cost, but right now I just want to thank you for however much you can spare.
I can't just let Marie be sick and not do anything about it. I can't let her suffer and then die just because I was unemployed and couldn't afford to give her the care she needs – she doesn't deserve that.
As someone who has suffered from depression and anxiety for years, Marie has been the light of my life since I adopted her two and a half years ago when she was only a little baby. She's the first pet I ever had, and my other half. I can't even describe how much she means to me. If there's any chance that I can help her through this, I have to take it.
If I make an excess of funds and am able to cover all vet expenses that Marie's illness incurs, I will donate all extra funds to the Toronto Cat Rescue, which is where I volunteer and where my sweet Marie was adopted from in July of 2017. They do incredible work and deserve as much funding as possible. If it comes to that, I will post screenshots of the donations for accountability. I will continue updating this with any and all vet bills.
If you read all this, thank you so much. I honestly can't find the words to tell you how important Marie is to me, and how much I appreciate your time in reading about how you can help her. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and hers.