Help Save Captain Emergency Surgery

This is Captain, named after Captain America (and Chris Redfield) because he runs this show. He is a sassy old man who I spoil whenever I see him. He enjoys lying in bed with someone and rolling around. He loves getting riled up for a walk only to stare at you to pick him up when he makes it down the block. But his favorite activity is sniffing around and making you suspicious that he will pee inside the house. Because of this, my parents don't like him inside the house, but whenever I'm over, I always let him stay indoors, sleep in bed with me to roll around, and boss me around to carry him everywhere.

He lives with my parents, and unfortunately, they did not pay enough attention to him to notice that he had gotten very sick in a short amount of time.

Three weeks ago, I visited and picked him up and was appalled that I could feel his bones. He has lost a lot of muscle mass to the point you can feel his spine, though you can't tell at first because his fur hides a lot of it. Despite that, he is also super bloated around the chest. I only saw him in September 2024, and he was not in this state.

Against my parents' wishes, I took him to the vet. They said he was too old to even bother trying. The vet found his bloodwork fine, but there was an unidentifiable mass in his X-rays around his liver.

His stomach and intestines are being squished, so although he still loves eating, it has become hard for him to digest food. This is likely the reason he has diarrhea and vomiting, which I have only noticed since I started visiting every day just to feed him. The next step is taking an ultrasound to help identify what it might be, and what to do next, but he will likely have to go under the knife.

I have to pay for this solely on my own since my family doesn't believe in pet health care and refuses to take this seriously. The estimated cost the vet told me for a procedure like this was around $8000, which is more than I can afford on my own. GoFundMe has recommended that I put a smaller goal to encourage donors to reach a realistic goal, but to be completely transparent, the total goal is $10000. Any bit you can offer will be a blessing for me and Captain and would be greatly appreciated. Everything in this fund will go to vet expenses, like his upcoming ultrasound and possible surgery.