Bernard is a five-year-old former street cat who needs our help. Since being brought indoors in late 2025, he has lived with a loving, caring foster mom who has helped him to acclimate to his new life as we looked for a permanent home for him. Initially shy, he began in the first couple of months to relax and play with his foster mom, seeming to realize that he was safe and wouldn't have to fend for himself any longer. But more recently, Bernard started showing signs he was not feeling like himself. First he began hiding more, and seemed less interested in treats. Once a voracious eater, his appetite decreased sharply over the course of a week, and we knew something was wrong.

A vet visit on March 14th revealed Bernard was severely constipated, with impacted stool and gas backed up throughout his gut. We had bloodwork done to better understand the full picture, and found elevated white blood cell counts and other signs of infection and/or inflammation.

We are currently treating his constipation and nausea and hoping Bernard will regain his appetite over the next few days. However, we don't know why he suddenly became inappetent and constipated -- we will have to bring him back to the vet in a few weeks to try to determine whether this was an infection or whether there's something more serious going on, like cancer.

While we can't predict what the future will look like, we want to be able to promise him we'll do everything we can to understand what's going on and prevent him from experiencing pain.

We are regular people in New York trying to help the often-overlooked animals in our community, where there is a severe overpopulation crisis among outdoor cats in particular. The cost of Bernard's veterinary care is not something we can shoulder on our own. We need your help to be able to get answers for Bernard -- to promise him the chance he always deserved.