Hi. This is hard for me to ask for help, but here I am.

My Walmart greeter who has never met a human he didn’t use as a cat bed, who has never met another animal he didn’t annoy enough into loving him, who steals my brussel sprouts and waits to climb all over me as soon as I sit down is fighting for his life.

His name is Tater Tot and he is only 3 years old. He loves dogs and cats, loves meeting new people, and is currently at the vet fighting acute kidney injury and potential kidney failure.

Let me tell you a little about Tater Tot. I rescued him at 8 weeks old and he won the hearts of my two large dogs immediately as a kitten. Originally, we thought he was a girl and I named him Betty White the cat for his spicy behavior. He earned the nickname Xena Warrior Princess fka Betty White shortly thereafter because he decided my oldest cat Binx was going to be his BFF, much to Binx’s dismay. One afternoon, waking from a nap, I turned my head to see him sprawled out on his back with his Tater Tot in full view. I told Xena to put away his Tater Tot, then realized girls don’t have them. His name was changed.

Tater Tot is everyone’s favorite. He won’t let a single person in the house without greeting them and testing out their lap. He loves to sit in the window and look into the backyard, watching birds and squirrels play. He climbs up on the kitchen counter and sticks his head in the window when the dogs are outside, frequently chatting with them to remind them he is waiting for them to come inside and play.

Tater Tot (or as I call him, Tater) is loving, mischievous, and brings so much joy into this house for all.

This morning, I found him laying in the litter box when he didn’t respond to my calls for breakfast. He was awake, barely, and unresponsive. I rushed him to Blue Pearl in Levittown, PA where they are working quickly and diligently to save his life (and my heart from devastating pain).

He has to get dialysis. I have prepaid his first treatment on my credit card and am looking for additional sources of income to help pay that off, but I need to explore all options. So here I am. I’m not willing to give up without a fight. And I hope there are some out there who are willing to help me fight. This cat has been my rock, my emotional support during the hardest times. He is, by definition, my child, my heart, my reason for getting up.

Anything raised will be going directly to his medical expenses. If, in the off chance, I raise more than I need, I will donate the additional to Blue Pearl to help another mom or fur dad.

Update 8:32pm 6/9:/2025 the vet just called. Tater is entering the final 90 minutes of his dialysis treatment. At the beginning he experienced some heart arrhythmia which they treated. Once they started dialysis, his numbers started to move in the right direction.

He isn’t out of the woods yet. I won’t get the next update til the morning (let’s be honest though, I’m just 90 minutes away from packing a sleeping bag and camping out there.

They are hopeful after dialysis they will start slowly giving him food and liquid and that he will produce urine. Once he does they can retest. All the messages and prayers are appreciates! Thank you everyone.

also, I added a photo of the bill I paid today to show how much just one treatment cost. Everyone who has donated or looking to donate, thank you. Thank you for helping me fight for Tater. It means the world to me

Update 8:00AM 6/10/2025: Got the call from the Vet that Tater Tot does need a second round of treatment but without a waiting period. They've initiated a 12 hour dialysis treatment. I'll be able to visit him this evening in person. They are optimistic but are not under-estimating his numbers are serious. The Creatinine went from over 13 to 8 this morning (which is great news). However normal ranges are 0.6 to 1.2. We know the kidneys are doing SOMETHING, but not enough yet. This second round of treatment will increase the bill I previously shared below by almost 5,000.00 (estimation)

My heart hurts so much for this young, snuggle bug. Everything that you've donated is helping me bring him home healthy and happy. My gratitude can't even be put into words at this time.

Update 8:21PM 6/10/2025: Just spoke with the Vet. Tater went through 12 hours dialysis. And the results are promising!

When he was brought in, his Creatine levels were over 300. As of this update, they are down to 40! His BUN levels dropped from 13 down to 3.04! The biggest win though is his body has started producing Urine. This was the best sign that the dialysis is helping his kidneys kick back into gear. We won't know how true the new numbers are until 8:00AM in the morning as we do expect them to rebound a bit back up over night. But hopefully not too much and hopefully he keeps a peeing! Best news though? I'm heading up to see him now!!! I'll be sure to tell him how everyone is cheering him on. He'll get a kick out of how many human cat beds he has in his corner.

Update 2:17AM 6/11/2025: I received a call at approximately 12:22AM. Tater had a cardiac event. They performed CPR but unsuccessfully. I went up there to be with him, and say my goodbyes. Despite my attempts to bargain, he unfortunately passed away.

My heart will never fully heal from this. Only 3 years old and gone too early.

To everyone following along for updates, and to everyone who has donated. Thank you. If you are comfortable with these donations still, I will be using them to pay for his medical care which as of this morning was approximately 15.9k. I'll find out the final bill tomorrow and will update here just in case anyone wants to know (not sure how quickly I will jump on here though). I may still need time to process this loss.

To everyone who sent a little prayer, good vibes and/or good thoughts our way. Thank you. This is not an update I wanted to make.

Hospital Photos from my visit with Tater To