In January, I rescued my beloved cat, Valentino. He’s only 1 year old and truly the most gentle, loving sweet boy. This past week my once healthy and playful kitty, suddenly became very sick; very feverish, lethargic, complete loss of appetite, and after multiple vet visits and a whole lot of testing as doctors struggled to pinpoint the cause, I come to find out that he was diagnosed with FIP (kitty covid), a rare condition that affects about 1% of cats.

Until recently, FIP was considered fatal. Thankfully, a new treatment was approved in 2021 that has shown extremely high success rates. His doctor described it as one of the biggest advancements in veterinary medicine for cats. Because Valentino is so young and we caught this early, he has a very strong chance at a full recovery with treatment.

My biggest challenge in addition to the emotional distress this rapid escalation of events caused me, is the cost. Over the past week the expenses have added up quickly:

* $1,250 for the initial vet visits and surface level testing to work to find the root of all of these rare combination of symptoms

* $2,950 for a 3 day hospitalization and many complex diagnostic tests

* Approximately $1,200 for the medication and treatment

As a financially independent recent graduate preparing to begin student loan payments on retail pay, this has been extremely overwhelming. I am fully committed to covering these costs and doing everything I can to support my Valentino to live the long, happy, and healthy life he deserves, but any support would help ease the burden.

I don’t expect to raise this full amount, even small donations or simply sharing this link would mean so so so much.

Thank you all so much it means the world!!!!❤️