Our Peachy P

For nearly nine years, Peach was more than just a pet to Pedro and me, she was a member of our family, and she was my best friend. We adopted Peach and her sister Susie back in September 2017 at the Humane Society of Broward on Griffin Road, right after a bad hurricane which overran many local shelters with strays. The girls were by our side through everything, moving with us from Florida to Minnesota, and then to DC last fall. Peach was my rock through every difficult moment in my life for almost a decade.

Peach was the kind of cat who filled a home with her giant personality. She was a beautiful, fluffy mix, probably part Ragdoll or Maine Coon, and we used to give her DIY "lion haircuts" that left her looking so silly and sweet with a big fluffy mane and a bushy tail.

She was wonderfully willful, too. She figured out how to pry open the lower kitchen cabinet doors with her paws, just long enough to ram her head into the gap and squeeze herself inside. During thunderstorms, Peach and Susie would huddle together inside one empty kitchen cabinet; it took us an hour to find them the first time they hid in there.

When we lived in Minnesota, Peach was obsessed with our garage. She would sit by the interior door and meow for minutes on end until someone came down. Because I didn't want her little paws getting dirty or scraped on the floor, my favorite thing to do was carry her in my arms and give her "tours," letting her intensely and curiously sniff everything in sight. Even after the tour, though, she’d sit by the door again and meow for more garage exploring time.

Peach was my shadow and my guard. If she wasn't sleeping on the floor right outside our bedroom door keeping watch, she was in bed with us either up between our heads or down next to our feet. She also had a habit of waiting until I was fully asleep to climb on top of my body and curl up there, and it was always the best surprise to wake up and find her there. During the day, you could usually find her napping on the middle landing of the stairs, slowly rolling over from her side until she was completely on her back, belly exposed, with her fluffy little feet dangling in the air.

Sadly, on March 14th this year, it became apparent that Peach was unwell. She woke up and showed no interest in breakfast, something incredibly unusual for her to do. Then she threw up three times, which quickly turned into a terrifying 12-day nightmare. We fought so hard for her, visiting three different vet clinics. I even spent three nights sleeping at a hospital just to be near her. In early 2025, she had a very small, though cancerous, growth removed and we suspect that this sudden illness was the cancer returning. When she lost her appetite, the veterinarians put a feeding tube port in her neck, and we were prepared to feed her this way for months if we had to if it meant she’d fully recover. But we didn’t know that Peach’s prognosis was so grim.

Despite doing everything in our power, we ultimately had to make the shattering decision to let her go on March 26th to end her suffering. We are heartbroken, though we are so thankful we still have her sister, Susie, to hold onto.

The emotional toll of losing Peach has been incredibly heavy, but the financial reality is also hitting us hard. Pedro was recently laid off due to corporate downsizing, and as a first-year law student who missed nearly a month of classes to care for Peach, we are currently facing this without an income. We have been left with overwhelming vet bills from those desperate 12 days of trying to save her life.

Any funds raised will go directly toward paying off these medical bills, giving us a little room to breathe while we continue to grieve. If we are able to, we also hope to put together a beautiful memory book to properly honor her life.

Please only consider donating if you’re financially able to do so. If not, then sharing the fundraiser link would be just as good as it increases visibility. Thank you so much for reading, for keeping Peach in your thoughts, and for any support you can offer during this incredibly difficult time.

- Scott and Pedro