Raising money for lifesaving treatment for Rafiki

In January, a kitten in our care named Disney, developed FIP - a serious and potentially deadly illness. We could never have imagined this was the update we’d be writing after his story…

At a recent check-up, Disney’s brother Rafiki had a high temperature, but this was put down to stress at travelling to the vet. Then he began to go off his food, developed a pot-belly, and his fur condition deteriorated.

His foster and Co-Trustee of the charity, Lynda, knew instantly it could be serious. As a team, we decided to pre-emptively give Rafiki a carefully-calculated dose of GS441524 - the medication used to treat FIP. It wouldn't do him any harm if he didn't have FIP, but could save his life if he did.

Rafiki perked up the following day and went back to see Dr Maria at Happy Tails Vets. She confirmed our suspicions - Rafiki has a textbook case of classic wet FIP and requires his own 84-day treatment course. Giving him the medication when we did stopped him from deteriorating further.

With Disney only halfway through his treatment, the strain and stress this places on our team is unimaginable. We'll give Rafiki the best chance at life, just as we’ve done for Disney, but we need serious help to do it.

We’re aware we’ve asked for a lot recently, but nothing would break our hearts more than if Disney was given a chance and his brother wasn’t. Disney and Rafiki are so closely bonded and we know they’ll support each other through this tough time. Our dream was that once Disney recovered, the two would be adopted as a pair. We’re hopeful that can still happen, and you can help.

Rafiki’s treatment is estimated to cost £1,800. This is much lower than Disney’s as the amazing team at Happy Tails have sourced the same GS treatment from a cheaper supplier, but it’s still money we just don’t have.

Any support to save little Rafiki's life would mean the world to us, to him, and to his loving brother Disney.