Help Me Pay for Kookie’s Emergency Surgery

Hi everyone,

My name is Sharika, and I’m raising funds to help pay for my cat Kookie’s emergency life-saving surgery.

Kookie is a black and white tuxedo cat with the most affectionate heart. She was the one who changed my life. One day I passed by a dumpster where I saw a bunch of sick stray cats, and one of them looked just like her. It hit me—what if that was Kookie? That moment haunted me and pushed me to start volunteering with a small rescue called Purrfect Cats NYC, where I began learning about TNR (trap-neuter-return) and cat rescue.

Since then, I’ve rescued and helped dozens of cats, even while juggling college. Kookie was the reason I started—it all began with her. She’s not just my pet. She’s the reason I’ve spent the last few years doing life-saving work for animals.

Kookie was vomiting green bile and deteriorating fast. She was hiding under the bed, not moving. She wouldn’t come out. Me and my sister rushed her to the emergency vet and we ended up being there for 11 hours straight. She was diagnosed with intussusception, a life-threatening condition where the intestines fold into themselves and block off. The vet told us that if we had waited any longer, she would’ve been dead.

There was no time to fundraise or think—I signed off on everything. I was approved for CareCredit, and she was rushed into surgery. We stood outside the surgery room and watched the whole thing for three hours. We saw them cut her open from top to bottom, take out her intestines to locate the blockage, and then stitch everything back together. She kept trying to wake up during surgery—she’s that much of a fighter.

They had to remove a good portion of her intestine. She has a long row of stitches. We don’t know what long-term effects she may have—she might experience lifelong digestion issues or chronic diarrhea—but she’s alive, and right now she’s recovering and eating.

The cost of her care is $7,604.06.

My sister and I are both students, about to graduate. We work hard, we receive public assistance, and are doing what we can—but this bill is more than we can handle alone. Our other family members wouldn’t help. They would’ve chosen to put her down. But we couldn’t. Kookie is only 4.5 years old. She has so much life left to live. We couldn’t put a price on her life—and we still won’t.

If you believe in the power of love, in showing up for the ones who inspire us, in helping those who help others—we're asking for your support. If you can’t donate, please share. Kookie deserves a long, happy life. She helped us become the people we are today. Now we just want to give her the life she gave to so many others. We're asking for help because even though we would go into debt a thousand times over for her, we believe that if we all pitch in a little, we won’t have to carry this alone.

With gratitude,

Sharika