We are looking to urgently fund raise for lifesaving treatment for our cat, Albus. He is insured for life for up to £4,000 a year, but the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, Chylothorax, has already racked up a £14,000 bill.

Please read on for more details of Albus's story. 

 

Albus Tumblepaws is a happy 3-year-old cat, with such a strong personality. He loves nothing better than lounging in the sun, running around chasing his toys and watching the world go by from the windows. His other favourite pasttime is eating. He loves Dreamies, 'meat sticks' and cat yoghurt and he makes a whole symphony of chirrups and trots towards us with his furry little legs if even an inkling is gathered that we will be feeding him any of these things. Our lives are made so full with him, and we just cannot imagine life without him.

 

Two weeks ago, we received the devastating news that our best friend has been diagnosed with a very rare disease called Idiopathic Chylothorax. This disease causes fluid to leak from a lymphatic vessel into Albus's chest, slowly crushing his lungs daily, making it difficult for him to breathe, run around and enjoy life. Chylothorax is an incredibly rare disease, very poorly understood and with few treatment options. We learnt that surgery is the main option for Albus, giving him the greatest chance of recovery, while medical management of the disease may also provide him with more time to enjoy life as he has been. The surgical route is expensive, but we feel that we have to do our absolute best for him in attempting to prevent this disease from ending his little life so prematurely. We would be so grateful for any small donation that will help us to afford the lifesaving treatment that Albus needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since his diagnosis last week, Albus has been scanned top to bottom, prodded and poked and has already undergone major chest surgery to try and repair the leaking vessel. Unfortunately, this 1st surgery was unsuccessful, and the vessel is still leaking lots of fluid. We now only have a few options; try a 2nd surgery (most likely to be successful), try him on a mixture of medications to reduce the fluid production (less likely to be successful but still worth a try), or a combination of the two. The surgeon would not recommend this 2nd surgery if he did not think it would work, so we have to hold on to this hope that it will work for Albus. The likelihood of it working has been estimated at 80%, but there is little research into Chylothorax, so there is very little data to support this. Despite this, we feel that we must give Albus every possible chance at recovery.

 

Our pet insurance pays out £4,000 every year for life, which has already been used for the scans and tests needed to diagnose him with Chylothorax. His 1st surgery was an advanced, complicated surgery and will cost us £7,000 when he is discharged. His subsequent surgery (due 28th March) will likely cost another £3,200. Extra time at the vet hospital (Langford Small Animal Hospital), follow up scans and tests, medications etc will all bring additional costs.

 

 

 

 

As any pet owners reading this will know, pets are part of the family. Albus has helped us through so many difficult periods in life, and his strong personality has given us so much joy. We have already burned through our savings (including money we were hoping to put towards buying our 1st house), but in our eyes, he is worth every penny.

 

So please, if you can spare even just a couple of pounds, please consider donating to help ensure we can provide Albus with all of the support, care and treatment that he deserves. Please also consider sharing on social media; it would mean the world to us and to Albus. Please help him to come home and return to his happy, hungry self.

 

 

 

 

For more information about Albus and this terrible disease, please read on below.

 

Albus Tumblepaws - From Hungerford to Bath (by way of Southampton)

 

Albus was born in Hungerford (very apt birthplace name - Albus is always hungry), Hampshire, in 2018. He is a Scottish Fold, but does not have the characteristic 'folded' ears. Our first ever cat, we picked each other when he was just 12 weeks old and since then we have been inseparable. For the next few months, he lived with us in Southampton, where he developed his very playful nature and his love of all things box-shaped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We moved to Bath in 2019, where Albus found his 2nd love of sitting next to our big Georgian windows and watching the world pass by (mostly tourists, with the occasional tasty looking bird fly by).

 

 

 

 

First signs of a problem

 

14th March 2022 - A few weeks ago, whilst having his usual check-up by our local vet, they noticed he was breathing slightly heavily, but otherwise, the only problem he had was needing a good teeth clean. Whilst they were preparing to put him under for his dental clean, they scanned his chest for a suspected case of asthma. Sadly, what they found was his chest was filled with such a massive amount of liquid that the vet said his lungs were close to the point of collapse! She said that one of the miraculous but also frustrating things about cats is that they are incredibly hardy and can unknowingly endure a great deal of hardship. Whilst he had mostly seemed his usual self, this alarming discovery prompted an urgent referral to a more specialist vet hospital - Langford Small Animal Referral Hospital.

 

Diagnosis

 

18th March 2022 - The vets at Langford drained his chest and diagnosed him with a Chylothorax. The liquid they drained was Chyle, a fatty/milky liquid transported through the chest via the thoracic duct. This duct, very rarely, can become leaky, causing the chest of cats and dogs to fill up, crushing their hearts and lungs. If not found or treated, this can sadly overwhelm the animals, causing a horrible passing. Since Albus was admitted to Langford on the 18th, he has had his chest drained most days, yielding between 50-150ml of fluid each day.

 

The usual causes are heavy trauma such as a car accident (Albus is an indoor cat, so this can be ruled out), heart disease or cancer (both of which he has been tested for and ruled out). But for 50% of all cats diagnosed with Chylothorax, an obvious cause cannot be identified and is thus termed Idiopathic Chylothorax - of which Albus has been diagnosed with. Where there is no obvious cause, it is extremely hard to treat this disease and due to the serious nature of the chest quickly filling up with liquid and crushing the lungs and heart, in many cases it can result in the very worst outcome. However we must hold on to the fact that many cats are cured by these treatments, and there is no reason why Albus cannot make it home to us.

 

Treatment

 

There are 2 schools of thought when treating an Idiopathic Chylothorax, surgery and medical management. Surgery tends to yield the better results, with an 80% success rate (albeit this success rate is based on a very limited amount of clinical research over the last few decades). Medication (steriods, supplements and a low fat diet) can potentially help, but again, the research is very limited on how successful this might be in Albus' case. You might think he could just have his chest drained every week for the rest of his days, but this could lead to infection, scar tissue on the heart and lungs and constant stressful vet trips for Albus. This is not a long term solution and would not give him a decent quality of life.

 

We decided to go with surgery to begin with - at a cost of £7,000 above our maxed out pet insurance. This involved the surgeons trying the repair the leaky thoracic duct in his chest whilst also removing the membrane around his heart (thought to help the chest naturally drain fluid better). This was performed on Monday, 21st March, and whilst the first day seemed promising as much less liquid was being drained from his chest, this reversed quickly and his chest is now producing nearly as much liquid as it was to begin with. Sadly Albus has fallen in the 20% where the 1st surgery does not work.

 

That now leads us to today (26th as I write). Albus is recovering well from the failed surgery, and whilst his usually luscious, fluffy fur is now looking rather sorry for itself, his pain is now only marginal and he has a healthy appetite and thirst. We can try a 2nd surgery (where the Chyle reservoirs in his abdomen are removed), medical management, or admit defeat and consider saying goodbye. Given his positive outlook and otherwise good health, the vet and ourselves are in agreement that the 2nd surgery, whilst not guaranteed, offers him the best chance of a cure. This surgery will cost another £3,200, meaning our current running bill stands at £10,200 (his £4,000 insurance is already used on the initial tests and scans).

 

He is our world and there is virtually no price we would not pay to see him better. Whilst we had aspirations of buying our first home next year thanks to some diligent savings, we are more than happy putting this and our other savings towards his vet costs and ongoing bills. We accept this means putting off buying a house for maybe another 5 years (or maybe forever in the current house price climate), but a house without Albus will never be a home in our eyes.

 

Updates

 

26th March 2022 - We were allowed to visit Albus for an hour today. His low dose of pain killer is keeping him a bit dazed, but he is still enjoying headscratches, strokes and most importantly, his favourite kitty junkfood - Dreamies. His 2nd surgery is due to take place on Monday afternoon (28th), so we will come back again tomorrow to have one last hug before his next big surgery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please keep your fingers crossed for him that it works! If you can, please donate to his cause and share this post on your socials. We are grateful for every bit of love and compassion shown by everyone.