Help With Rick Deckard's Emergency Vet Bill

Hi, my name is Rachel & Rick Deckard is my 10.5 year old cat that I rescued while living in St. Louis in 2012. Around 3 weeks ago, I noticed a change in the color of the pretty litter that I use, which detects pH changes in Urine and could correspond with potential medical issues. The color change indicated potential bladder issues, and I quickly got him seen by a vet and he got put on Clavamox which is an antibiotic that helps treat these issues in cats.

He's always been a barfy boy, due to eating too fast, and having hairball issues. He's also had fairly frequently loose stool his whole life, but every time I have my vet check him out the issues were just related to him eating too fast. Him and his brother are currently separated in their own rooms for about the past 4 months because Rick has been aggressive towards Reset, which I just attributed to them being older and both having separation anxiety from me.

In the past week, he's been pickier about eating his food, and throwing up more frequently. I've always been able to catch any health issues with my cats early because I have had both of them in my life for so long that any behavioral changes are noticed early. However, last evening (3/24) after I got out of the shower I noticed more vomit than normal, and when I checked the litter box there was diarrhea with bright blood which indicates bleeding in the lower GI tract.

I immediately rushed him to the Veterinary Emergency Group on Kent Ave in Williamsburg at 8pm where he was taken care of by the most amazingly attentive and kind Doctors & Care Team. Rick had a full Blood Panel, Urinalysis, Abdominal Ultrasound, X-Rays, Vitamin B-12 shot, Buprenorphine shot, Subcutatenous Fluids (IV Drip due to dehydration), Fecal sample, and was given medications to follow up for the next few weeks.

Because of his age they wanted to make sure to rule out the possibility of any infections, parasites, anal gland issues, organ issues (kidney or liver), cancer, or anything else that it could possibly be.

The urinalysis said that he was dehydrated, but presented no crystals so he did not have a UTI, but he could have had before and it was treated with the antibiotics I had given him. His blood tests were all great as well. The X-Rays showed he has mild arthritis in his back legs, which is common for cats of his age. The Ultrasounds were what really showed the issues he was facing as he had inflammation and effusion (fluid collection) in his abdominal area, as well as thick-walled small intestines, and his lymph nodes were enlarged.

The diagnosis is Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and is going to require a full change of diet (sorry Rick, no more Kitty McDonalds), as well as antacids, pain / anxiety management medication (gabapentin) for a while, and probiotics.

I am extremely lucky I noticed the change early, as if it goes untreated cats can become malnourished and their quality of life deterioriates. Rick is back home, eating his prescription diet food, begrudgingly receiving his medication, and is back to being the sweet cuddly boy that everyone knows him for.

The emergency vet bill came out to $2386.58, you can see the full invoice at this URL since gofundme crops images. I rounded up to $2500 due to the fees gofundme takes and the cabs i took to and from the vet, and anything raised over this amount I will donate to the non-profit Veterinary Care Foundation that the Emergency Vet works with to assist guardians of pets who are unable to afford care.