Hello all! My name is Daniella and if you know me, you know that my partner, Marco, and I would do anything for our cats. Just a few weeks ago we came home to find that our 4-year-old cat, RZA, was not eating or acting like herself. Within a few days she went from being bright and active to being extremely lethargic and withdrawn. We rushed her to the emergency vet where they found that her kidney levels were WAY higher than the normal range. Not only that, but one of her kidneys was drastically smaller than the other. This took us both by surprise because we had not witnessed the usual signs of kidney distress. They needed to keep her in hospital to try to get her kidney levels down. If you have dealt with emergency vets, you know that this was not an inexpensive experience.

After a weekend stay at the emergency vet, we received a call that they suspected she might have a ureteral obstruction that would require surgery. We took her to the only vet in the area that could see her that day (a 45 minute drive from where we live) and they confirmed what the emergency vet suspected -- RZA had ureteral stones. The only treatment moving forward was subcutaneous ureteral bypass (SUB) surgery, which is a system that bypasses the ureter and diverts urine from the kidney to the bladder. The total cost of just the surgery was around $10,000. After a long discussion with the vet about quality of life and success rates, we decided to move forward with the surgery given that she is so young and otherwise healthy.

The surgery was a success, however not without complications. RZA had a kidney infection that caused the SUB to become clogged the next day requiring another surgery to revise the implant (another $3000). She also became anemic and needed a blood transfusion. Throughout this whole process, the vet assured us that our girl was bright eyed and full of life. We couldn't give up on her after coming this far.

Even with the SUB, RZA will need on-going care. Every 3 or so months we have to take her to get her SUB flushed, a procedure that costs around $500. Additionally, has to be on a special (expensive) kidney diet for the foreseeable future, take various medications, and may need veterinary appointments to receive fluids.

She is now home with us but she has a LONG list of discharge instructions. Thankfully we are able to stay home because she requires constant tube feeding and fluids. While we would do anything for our sweet RZA, this around-the-clock post-op care has been really hard for us. With summer coming up, and my teaching contract not covering summer pay, we are now starting to worry about keeping up with her recovery. As much as we don't want to be a bother on our friends and family, we are reaching out for help. Any amount will help us get through this rough patch and help us get our girl well.

Anyone who donates will get a hand-printed "Thank You" card and our eternal gratitude.

Thank you all!

Daniella and Marco