Help Nola for Radiation Therapy

Nola was diagnosed with a mass within her spinal cord. I have seen a decline in her walking abilities for a couple months now but it wasnt until she was almost fully immobile that a vet would finally listen to listen to me. The mass is displacing her spinal cord fluid and inflaming her nerves. She needs radiation treatment to reduce the size and to give her more time with us. On 1/9 we're driving out to Arizona where the closest animal oncologist is located. She will receive an intense dose of radiation from stereotactic radiation therapy over the course of three days after the initial prep. This is on top of a neurologist visit with an MRI to diagnose the issue and several emergency vet visits. I wrote a lot below to describe just how much she means to be but the TLDR is that Nola is my world and I'm not sure what I would do without her in it. The bills are beyond our all of our savings now and we know it's a tough time for everyone. But we would appreciate it if there is anything to spare.

I adopted Nola 5.5 years ago. The idea of getting a kitty was conceived when I was visiting New Orleans and I thought to myself wouldn't Nola make such a great cat name? About a month later, it was a weekend and I was on my laptop. Something told me to look up shelters and the first shelter to pop up is Pets Come First animal shelter. A place that was a 30 minute drive away and should not have been the first google result at all. As I was driving to the shelter it began raining cats and dogs. I barely could see the road but I made it anyways. The volunteers showed me to the cat room and as I walked through the door the most striking pair of green eyes greeted me. This beautiful kitty turned and walked away from me. I followed her back to a bed and I tried petting her. She grabs my hand and bites, playfully but hard. That's when I knew she was mine. This little fiesty kitty with the most amazing eyes and sassy personality.

I paid a discounted $50 for the little girl, then named Demi, because she just turned 1 years old and spent 6 months at the shelter with no takers. They told me she would never be the type of cat to love me or be affectionate. That she would be difficult and I couldn't expect much from her. I brought her home anyways and that's when she became my Nola.

I bribed Nola out of her carrier with turkey lunch meat. The very first night she came up to me while I was sleeping and inspected my face. By the second or third night she was cuddling on top of my chest as we both fell asleep. The entire first year together my hand looked like I put it down a garbage disposal because of her roughness. But I loved her rough edges smoother and she learned how to be gentler. She trusted me entirely to provide for her and in return I've tried to give her the best love I can. She proved the people at the shelter and her original vet wrong. Nola is the most loving and affectionate cat I've ever seen.

Nola got me through the awful, horrendous, horrible time that was grad school. I would come home and she was always at the door to greet me and give me cuddles. She would nap with me when I was too depressed or exhausted to leave my bed. I call her my shadow because she's usually always at my feet, following me around. She's lived with me in PA, Long Island, Colorado, and now New Mexico. Nola has touched so many people on our "walks" outside and she always enjoys being called a pretty kitty. I believe the love I showed her allow for her to lovingly welcome other cats in her lives including her sister Barley and best friend Mittens.

Her love is tough. She has a fiery personality but that's what makes me love her so much. I have spent the last 5.5 years waking up at 5 am to bites to my face because she wanted breakfast (and she wanted it now). Nola isn't an easy to understand cat but I'm not an easy to understand human and I think that's what makes our bond special.

Nola isn't an easy to understand cat but I'm not an easy to understand human and I think that's what makes our bond special. We understand each other in ways no one else can. Nola is my world, she is my heart, she is my soul. We joke that Nola is the present reincarnation of me because we are built from the same cloth.

I love Nola beyond anything I could ever describe and I would do anything for her. She has beat the odds before and I'm betting on her fiestiness to beat them again. I'm not ready to lose her so we're fighting and getting her treatment. I don't like asking for help because I'm just as stubborn as Nola (it's because we're both Polish) but I will because Nola is my everything and I'm not ready to lose her just yet.