Hello,

My name is Hannah and my cat's name is Izumi. I adopted Zumi 4 years ago from Kijiji. Izumi is an 8 year old Exotic Shorthair, he will be turning 9 this August.

I adopted Izumi because I was lonely, I moved to Montreal when I was 17, alone, to study. I lived for most of my time in Montreal with no roommates so coming home was very depressing. He's been there for a lot of my hardships and weak moments, he's always been there to comfort me in times of need. For a majority of the 4 years we've been together, he's had on and off health problems, nothing overly serious. Within the past year and a half, I started to notice signs of anxiety. When we would travel from Montreal to Ontario to visit my family, Zumi would have fits of vomiting for a week after we returned home. I visited my family this past April, ever since, nothing has been the same. It took Zumi almost two weeks to fully "recover." I noticed at the end of May, he really started to take a turn. He was lethargic, never came to cuddle in bed with me, had very low apetite and eventually stopped grooming. Our current housing situation isn't the greatest, I thought maybe the in and out of the extermintaor and the fumigations was causing this. Sunday June 4th, I took Zumi to the emergency vet in Montreal. They did an ultrasound and found a large amount of fluid in his abdomen, which later, 200ml of fluid was drained. The vet was also able to confirm that Izumi had a heart murmur, which I have been trying to get a proper diagnosis for for 3 years. I was told that fluid in the belly is never a good sign, we were given 3 possible outcomes; heart failure, cancer or FIP (Feline infectious peritonitis.) Upon a follow up visit to our regular vet on June 8th, the vet suspects that the diagnosis is FIP. Izumi is currently having a abdominal ultrasound as I am writing this, to rule out/confirm cancer or FIP. Izumi and I live alone, and although I work a full time job, caring for our home, the vet appoitments/tests and caring for myself, has become extremley expensive. FIP has a very high mortality rate and there currently isn't any "legal" cures within North America. My vet referred me to the FIP Warriors group, which guides cat parents to other cat parents that have saved their pets by using methods proven to cure FIP by Dr. Pedersen. I am currently in the process of speaking with that support system, along with my vet, in order to get the treatment needed for Zumi to live a longer and healthier life. The medication is very expensive, since it is not recognized within North America. I'm reaching out to ask for support during this difficult time, to allow myself and my loved ones to have more time to spend with our precious Zumi.

Thank you all,

Hannah & Zumi