Hi. My name is Amy and my partner's name is Billy. I run a cat rescue organization called The 5 Kittens Rescue. I named the rescue after the first kitties we ever rescued. They were a litter of 5 kittens. Of those 5 kittens we adopted 2, Ringo and Russell. After rescuing these kittens we were inspired to continue to help cats through rescue work and TNR. We turned our spare bedroom into a holding space for feral cats recovering from surgery and friendly cats who await a foster home or need more intense medical care. We've helped hundreds of cats in the little over a year that we've been a part of the rescue community thanks to the help of our supporters. We are usually asking for help with stray homeless cats but today we are asking you to help us save one of our cats, Ringo. About 2 weeks ago, Ringo's appetite started to decrease. We brushed it off as him not liking the new food we had bought because he's such a picky eater but his appetite continued to get worse. He lost a drastic amount of weight and stopped eating for a full 3 days before we rushed him to the vet yesterday, June 20th. As soon as our vet looked at Ringo he was alarmed at how much weight he had lost. He looked like a skeleton. Mind you, Ringo is only a year old and was always a chunky happy boy. The vet immediately ruled out urinary blockage and told us to prepare for a FIP diagnosis while they run some tests. I was shocked to hear FIP but thought "No way. Not my cat"...that was until yellow fluid was found in his abdomen and his bloodwork had all the markers of Wet FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis). It felt like the world just ended. I couldn't even cry because I was so shocked. Then reality started to set in. Being a part of the rescue community, we had heard about the cost of treatment being extremely expensive. For those of you who follow our rescue on Instagram, you may know that I recently lost my job. We've been struggling to make ends meet, barely getting by, and hearing the news that our fur baby would 100% die in a matter of weeks without an expensive black-market medication, my mind immediately went to a dark place. We felt hopeless...and then I felt guilty. Guilt because there is treatment out there that is available to Ringo but that we can't afford it. We have asked for help with hundreds of cats in the past. We are now begging for help with our cat, Ringo. He is the reason we got involved in rescue. He is the reason why the hundreds of cats we have met now live a better life. Ringo deserves a second chance just as much as any other cat. Please help us treat Ringo. Yesterday, June 20th we ordered 2 vials of medications for $260. His vet visit was $400. That $660 was all the money we had. In 2 weeks he will run out of meds. He will need these meds for 80 days. It will cost around $18 a day for now. As he gains weight the dose will increase meaning it will become more expensive over time. This may not sound like a lot but because I lost my job last month which made up the majority of our income, we simply cannot afford to continue to do this without your help. Thank you sosososoo much.
**Funds will be used for medications. Any leftover funds will go to our rescue kitties. Receipts will be posted as updates