Our precious 5 year old bb Squishy is extremely sick. He is our most special plop swirly boy and means the world to us.

In the past couple months, our little handsome had started showing less interest in food, which is crazy because his #1 favorite thing is eating everything. It was hard to tell how much less this was in our multi-cat home, and at first it appeared to be a developing case of picky eating. We promptly took Squishy to the vet 2 weeks ago when his health took a sharp turn: he suddenly stopped eating anything (not even his favorites), was hardly drinking water, and his left eye was changing color. In this short span of time he’s lost nearly 3.5 pounds. We’ve taken him to the vet 6 times in the past 12 days for multiple rounds of diagnostic testing and IV fluids. We’ve barely gotten food in him these last ten days, and after trying everything we’ve now resorted to syringe feeding. He is fatigued, dispirited, nauseas, confused, now showing neuro symptoms, and is losing sight in his left eye. He is still very affectionate and you can tell he wants to eat food; we can’t read his mind, but it looks like he’s fighting and wants to survive this.

The vets are confounded by his symptoms: heart murmur, blood in urine, very enlarged kidneys, zero appetite, lethargy, and an extremely overactive immune system. At this point, they believe Squishy has either dry FIP (Feline infectious peritonitis) or Kidney Cancer. However, it is difficult and expensive to know for sure in either case, and at this point we’ve already spent $2,500 to get to these limited answers.

FIP is fatal when left untreated. However, a full 12 week course of treatment with the antiviral medication GS-441524 has a success rate of about 85%. This means that with this treatment, Squishy could go on to live a full, happy, and healthy life. We are starting with 10 days of treatment with the antiviral GS-441524 for FIP. If he responds positively to treatment, he will need to continue with a full course for at least another 74 days. 10 days of treatment cost $408, and the full-course is likely to exceed $3,500.

If Squishy is not responding to the FIP treatment, it would indicate that he is indeed battling kidney cancer. In which case, we will need to make arrangements for palliative care and determine the best end-of-life, humane options for him.

We are desperate to give our special Squishy Bubble Baby Boy a fighting chance and provide him the best care possible. We would be grateful for any support that you can provide in the treatment costs and continued care he needs. Any amount is greatly appreciated, and if you know of any cat lovers or friends in a position to assist in Squishy’s treatment and recovery, we would be thankful for your sharing.