Help Pietro Fight the Cancer in His Eye

Hi, my name is Kara, and I'm fundraising for my cat Pietro (affectionately more commonly known as Monster) to fight a rare case of lymphoma that appeared in his inner eyelid.

 

It appeared 6 months ago as swelling of his inner eyelid that we initially assumed and dismissed as an irritation in his eye that would eventually go away. It seemed like nothing was wrong; his behavior was the same, his appetite was unaffected, his weight was unchanged, and he was just as affectionate, playful and happy as always. But the swelling steadily worsened, and for months we took him to the vet and gave him medication meant to reduce it. When none of it worked, the eye specialist we'd taken him to performed a biopsy and confirmed the worst: lymphoma.

 

When we were finally able to take him to an oncologist for a consultation, what we learned broke our hearts. They told us that because usually, with lymphoma, the cysts appear in the lungs or liver and not the eye, this is an extremely rare case. One that they've seen only a literal handful of times before, maybe as many as 10 cases, and because of that the information they have on treating it is extremely limited. So there are many things they need to do to figure out the best way to move forward. Essentially it boils down to surgery and chemotherapy, in either order, but the grand total is way more than we can afford. My best friend and I basically maxed out our credit cards today to pay for today's visit and that's still just the first of many.

 

The worst part is that even with the best results and care, Pietro will still be on borrowed time because of how many unknown elements are involved with his sickness. So this isn't just about helping one cat fight, but all the cats in the future who may end up suffering from it as well. I want to be able to pay for the doctors to do whatever they need to simultaneously treat him and learn more about this form of lymphoma. So that the next time a cat owner is told such terrible news, they'll be talking about extending their cat's life in terms of years and not months.

 

That said, we need the funds for it. I hate that I have to ask for help in this department, but all I want to do is take care of my baby and it kills me that I can't do it on my own. So I'm sincerely asking from the bottom of my heart for your help to keep my cat alive, for just a little bit longer. Anything you can spare. Every little bit helps.