Hi everyone,

I never imagined I’d be in a position where I’d have to ask for help. The past few of months have been overwhelming emotionally and financially because of a series of urgent and complex veterinary emergencies involving my cats.

The quick story

Over the past few months, a mishandled black mold removal in my home led to serious health problems for me and my three cats. Charley had a severe allergic reaction to a “natural” spore killer after the mold was cut out dry and spread through the house, and Bella developed neurological symptoms that a specialist believes were caused by prolonged mold exposure and needed advanced testing. Not long after, Charley began vomiting blood and required multiple emergency visits, a two night hospital stay, and an endoscope that removed plastic from his stomach and raised concern about possible inflammatory bowel disease.

Even with pet insurance, the costs from all of this have been overwhelming. In a very short time my savings and credit have been wiped out by exams, emergency care, specialist tests, and replacing contaminated furniture. Any help, in any amount, would ease this burden and help me keep caring for my cats.

The whole story

This all started when I noticed I had black mold in my ceiling and had someone cut the mold out who wasn’t trained in mold removal. Unfortunately they cut the mold out dry ( the most dangerous thing you could do) and spread it around my house with the dry spores. I was in a situation where my hands were tied and unfortunately put in a situation where I had to wait an entire month for the mold to get properly removed by a professional. Durning this time unfortunately the whole household expirenced mold exposure symptoms .

I got very very sick and so did Charley he started losing his voice . I took him to the vet and they said he has cold like symptoms which were symptoms you get from mold exposure. Then, he had a severe allergic reaction to a “ natural spore killer “, a disinfectant product used by mold specialists that they said was safe for infants pets and babies. All the research I did said it was safe for cats. We had the cats locked away for 4 hours too like they said to do. Unfortunately turns out it contains thymol oil, which caused a dangerous reaction in Charley since his immune system was already compromised from the mold.

It started as what looked like a small cut on his nose, and then the skin began to look like it was eroding away. The area turned into a tender, open sore that spread quickly once it started. I had to bring him back to the vet again for treatment he wet on steroids . They explained he was having an auto immune reaction where his body started attacking himself. From having the mold exposure and the “natural spore killer “ These visits added up to over $1,000 in exam fees alone, and unfortunately my pet insurance does not cover any Exam fees.

A few weeks later Bella started acting strangely she was acting “off,” shaking her head and seeming withdrawn. When I brought her in, the vet discovered she had abnormal eye movement (shaking eyes), which turned out to be much more serious than I expected.

I was referred to a neurologist (another $350 exam fee). Bella then underwent a CT scan and MRI, which cost $11,000. My insurance covered most of that, but I still had to pay $2,000 out of pocket.

The scan showed no brain abnormalities, same with the spinal tap. All these tests ruled out things like tumours or lesions and everything and anything that could be the cause.The neurologist explained she got “neuro toxicity” from prolonged mold exposure basically brain damage. This can happen to small animals when they are exposed to a neurotoxic for weeks on end like mold. He explained how all the tests that were done ruled out this to be the cause of her eyes shaking and her grumpy sad attitude and shaking her head.

Bella got put on a medicine to help calm her down and prevent seizures. A few weeks after this Charley started puking blood so I had to take him to emergency . This led to multiple emergency vet visits (each around $350), where I had to rush him in, miss work, and closely monitor him while we tried to figure out what was wrong.

Charley was hospitalized for two nights, where a team of specialists monitored him and performed an endoscope to look inside his stomach. They discovered and removed plastic that had been causing ulcerations in his stomach.

His vets are now also checking to see if he may have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which could be related to his recent health issues and immune responses from the mold and Even with insurance, the emergency stay, procedure, and specialist involvement cost me approximately $3,000 out of pocket. Charley has been healing at home since .

The Specalist and my vet suspect inflammation in Charley’s body to not be caused just by the plastic but caused by the mold hence him puking blood he is having an autoimmune reaction internally. Like his nose problem but inside his body. My place is mold free ofcourse now , and we got an air quality test done showing it’s totally safe now . But unfortunately I might have long term damages to my cats health

Having to replace furniture after the Decon30 reaction

After Charley’s reaction to Decon30, I was advised to replace contaminated furniture and materials to keep the environment safe for all of my cats. That alone cost me another $3,000 I had not anticipated.

Why I am asking for help

At this point, between my three cats, there have been around seven separate vet visits in just a few months, many of them at about $350 per exam and not covered by insurance. On top of that are the emergency fees, specialist consults, diagnostics, medications, special food, cones, and supplements.

Even with insurance, I have had to pay:

Around $350 x 7 vet exams (not covered by insurance)

Approximately $3,000 for Charley’s emergency hospitalization, endoscopy, and specialist care

$2,000 for Bella’s advanced diagnostics (CT scan and MRI)

$3,000 in household replacement and decontamination costs

Plus ongoing costs for medications, food changes, and supplements

All of this has happened in a very short period of time. I am doing everything I can to give my cats the care they need, but it has become more than I can handle on my own.

I’ve set this GoFundMe goal to be as reasonable as I can. I would be beyond grateful for any help. Right now I feel like I’m drowning and facing years of debt in my 30s over something I couldn’t control and had my hands tied in. I would never, ever knowingly let my babies be exposed to mold. If it had been up to me, it would have only been handled by a professional. I was put in a situation where I did not have a real choice or the knowledge to understand what was happening or what we were being exposed to.

Any donation, no matter the amount, will make a real difference for me and my cats. I no longer have any emergency savings or credit left.