Hi, my name is Caroline. If you know me, then you also know my cat, Archie. He’s three years old and my best friend in the whole world. He’s the sweetest, friendliest cat you’ll ever meet. Over the past few days, I’ve noticed some changes in him. He became very lethargic and didn’t have much of an appetite, causing him to lose a concerning amount of weight. On Tuesday (10/10/23) night, I decided to bring him in to the emergency veterinarian. They were concerned about his kidneys, his high protein levels, and that he was anemic and had low platelet levels. He had to stay the night to have more tests done. They found fluid buildup in his chest and his abdomen, and took a fluid sample to send out for testing for what they suspected was a disease call Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). They have since informed me that there is enough evidence to believe he has FIP. This disease is fatal for cats and doesn’t have any approved treatments in the US. There are two kinds, dry and wet FIP. Cats with dry FIP are likely to have a prognosis of a few months, while cats with wet FIP are likely to have a prognosis of a few weeks. Archie is suspected to have wet FIP.

I was heartbroken. He went from greeting me everyday at the door to barely being able to make it down the stairs. As of right now, he’s been given medicine to stimulate his appetite, painkillers, and an anti-nausea medication. It’s hard to get him to eat and drink.

However, the vet told me to look at a group created to help cats with FIP. This group has successfully connected many pet owners to means of treatment and has saved lives. Vets aren’t allowed to recommend this treatment, as it’s not approved by the FDA. They did tell me they have seen it cure all the cats they have seen use this treatment.

It’s called GS-441524 and has had an extremely high success rate in completely curing cats with FIP. It’s already used by vets in the UK and other places. Through this Facebook group, I can be connected to people who have access to the medicine. Due to the aggressive nature of this disease, I need to do so as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, it’s very expensive. It’s expected to be upwards of $1,000 (maybe $2,000) for the whole course of treatment. If he responds to treatment, I have to get his blood work done at least every four weeks to check that the dosage is working. He needs to be given the medicine every day for 84 days. Each vile is small and extremely costly.

For the one day Archie spent at the vet, my family and I had to pay nearly $3,000.

I wanted to make this fundraiser to help with the payment for his medicine. The severe progression of this disease means I likely don’t have much time. He is deteriorating extremely quickly and has lost even more weight. I am not sure, but it could be as short as a few weeks to days. As a college student, this has been a steep expense and the medicine will add to the cost greatly. His other FIP tests should be available next week, but the vet advised that I start his treatment asap because they have enough evidence to believe it’s FIP, which is aggressive and waiting could be fatal. If you’d like to contribute and/or share this fundraiser, that would help me save his life, no matter the amount.

Thank you for reading,

Caroline Williams