At the end of February this year, our cat Basil suddenly became very ill and was rushed to the emergency vet. We learned she had FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) and was declining so quickly that the vets did not believe she would be able to recover even if we were able to treat it. Less than a day after we brought her in, we had to make the decision to let her go peacefully. Later that same week, our other cat Rizzo was taken to that same emergency vet after straining to pee. He had developed a urinary blockage and UTI. Thankfully we had caught it before any significant damage was done to him, but he will need prescription food for the foreseeable future to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The emotional toll of that week is still weighing on our family, and the financial strain things even harder for all of us. The first vet visit drained what little savings I had, and due to this I had to take out a loan and maxed out our care credit. A dear friend of ours also paid for most of our second vet visit and I would like to be able to pay them back as much as possible. I’m struggling to keep up with the costs of paying off our debts, our usual bills, and making sure Rizzo is able to still get the care he needs.

Basil was such a special cat to us, being my very first cat alongside Rizzo. She would have been 3 this April. Her favorite toys were anything ring-shaped. She liked to hold teaser toys in her mouth and chase them around the room by herself, because no one else played them right. She was scared of video game cats she saw on the TV. She was born without her top canine teeth, so her lips often got stuck in silly ways. I wish we had gotten more time with her to laugh, love, and find even more things that made her so special.

My hope is to at least fully cover the cost for Basil's visit (Care credit + loan that needed to be taken alongside our own money). The rest will help with paying off Rizzo's visit and our credit card we've had to rely on since. Any remaining will go to our savings. Even just getting a portion of our debts paid off will improve our lives greatly.

Thank you so much to all who read this, and thank you so much to all who consider donating. It was a hard decision to make a GoFundMe for this, but I want to be able to provide for my family and the rest of our pets without the fear of loans looming over heads.

Sending so much love to you all, and I hope your cats (if you have them) stay happy and healthy forever ❤️