Help Ollie(&Luna) Recover from Life-Saving Surgery

**update at bottom**

Hello! My name is Ariane and this is for my cat Ollie, whom my husband and I have had since he was 12 weeks old (adopted him and his sister) Luna. Luna has always been a daddy’s girl, and Ollie has always been a mommas boy. Ever since Ollie reached out his paw at me when we walked by the cage, they have been my children. (he chose me?!) We love them so much. I can’t let him go just yet. This fund is to help tackle the multiples it takes to help Ollie thru his surgery, recover post op, and any extra will be donated to a urinary blockage fund (to be determined! Gotta do my research).

Now Ollie, he has been a lovable anxious problem child since he was young, with a few emergency vet visits (gastritis, getting into rat poison, 1st urethral blockage and subsequent UTI’s) and two (now three) hospitalizations in his short life. But we love him. He’s our little special needs kitty. I love him so much.

I normally do not ask for help, especially monetary help, because all of my vet decisions are my own.. and mine to own. And now, because this has happened multiple times now, I have to admit that we need extra support. In an unfair and predatory veterinary healthcare system, and because pet insurance will not cover this “preexisting condition” of his, his survival has been up to us.

TLDR: Ollie has been hospitalized for a third time, and now after a life saving surgery, we are trying to help him recover as fast and pain free as possible. While my financial decisions are my own, we all need a little help from our friends, especially when trying to navigate an expensive, unforgiving veterinarian system.

A little backstory that may explain in part why we are struggling emotionally and financially . Ollie nearly died from a urethral obstruction in September of last year (2023). We almost didn’t catch it in time, lugging him in to PVSEC around midnight to find out that he was blocked and wouldn’t have made it through the night. Apparently, male cats have a higher chance of both UTI’s and urethral obstruction. Sometimes it is one and done, but other times it happens over and over. It is also one of the number one reasons people euthanize their cats. Over the extended crises that became a full MONTH of a hospitalization, recurrent vet visits and UTI’s, and multiple medications… our bubs was out of the red zone and our wallets were crying. But it was worth it. And the ways our lives changed were worth it too:

I would do anything for my baby. I know it’s “not the same” but Ollie is like a child to me.

After September of this year (2024), a year later, I thought we were in the clear….. Welp, not so much.

My mother senses tingled on Wednesday night (march 19th) and with Nate's spidey senses also tingling, we brought him to the vet on Thursday (20th), thinking he had a stomach ache illness…. But then we found out he was obstructed again. We had to bring him to the ER and make a decision. A near impossible decision.

here’s a picture of us giving him lactose free milk in an attempt to see if he will use the litter box several hours before vet appointment. Notice cute milk dribbles:

The impossible choices:

We could either

We made a decision for a surgery that will hopefully never let this happen again (90%).

The surgery is called a perineal urethrostomy, and in more a more scientific explanation, it involves creating a new, shortened, and wider opening in the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside) to decrease chances of future obstructions.

Well, he made it!!

He spent another night in the hospital and then came back home in the afternoon of March 22.

This fund is to help us cover a portion of the cost of recent emergency vet visits, hospitalization, and surgery. I will update totals to increase or decrease as necessary. Any extra funds will be donated to shelters or a fund for felines who struggle with urethral obstructions. TBD while I do research!)

here’s an adorbs photo Ollie and Luna

also of note… the dang chances and pure ridiculousness of our luck… this happened right after Luna got sick and had to go to our vet and urgent care, which put us back a couple of k already in the middle of February last month

***Luna continues to vomit and lose weight. No answers have come yet, even after blood work, x-rays, and an ultrasound. She has lost 2 lbs over the past 5 months. Our next steps are most likely going to be an endoscopy to get a visual of what is going on with her, as well as taking any biopsies that are needed.