Medical Fund for Patches
Donation protected
My cat Patches and I both have heart problems. Patches needs emergency surgery to clear an intestinal blockage. Because of her heart condition, Patches may not survive the surgery if we cannot afford cardiac care both before and during the surgery. If you can help in any small way, please do. Our story is below.
I had open heart surgery in February of 2014. My first open heart surgery was in 1975, when I was only 18 months old. In March of 2014, I was recovering from my second surgery, weak and scared, and I came across a Facebook post about a young cat named Patches with a heart condition. The situation was dire. Patches was in a shelter in Baltimore (BARCS) because her elderly owner had died. She came to the shelter with four kittens, all of which were adopted almost immediately--but no one would adopt Patches because of her heart condition.
My sister and my father were visiting, trying to help me and my family while I recovered from my heart surgery. I convinced my sister to drive me an hour to Baltimore so that I could meet Patches. It was my second car ride since coming home from the hospital.
To make a long story a bit shorter, with my husband’s approval and my sister’s continued assistance as a personal driver, I adopted Patches. It was with great surprise that, after the adoption was finalized, we were given a significant sum of money that had been donated to BARCS in Patches’ name. We were able to use this money, along with a gift from my father and some money of our own, to pay for Patches to see a veterinary cardiologist. We were also able to afford for Patches to be spayed at a facility that was able to provide advanced heart and aesthesia monitoring during the procedure. We were told she might not survive the spay surgery, but she did. We were told by the cardiologist that she had a level 4/5 murmur and a condition called tetralogy of fallot. That is the exact heart problem that I have. It is rare.
Patches is smart and playful and friendly. She loves our three children. She loves my husband and cuddles with him endlessly every time him comes home from the trips that his work sometimes requires. Patches and our hound dog, King, have a dynamic and fascinating relationship. She is the most affectionate and quirky cat that I have ever known. I love her so very much.
Sometime over the last month, Patches ate something--we do not know what. This foreign object is lodged in her intestine. She is not able to eat without vomiting and she is not passing stools. The wonderful vets and staff at the Takoma Park Animal Clinic in Maryland have helped us do everything possible to avoid surgery. But no medications or other interventions have worked. Patches needs surgery or she will die. To make matters more expensive and far more scary, she may not survive the surgery because of her heart condition.
I am subsequently taking a rapidly declining Patches to an emergency animal hospital today. The hope is that the facility we choose can provide the surgery and the cardiac care that she needs to, hopefully, survive the surgery. Initial estimates are as high as $8000.
In a course I teach at American University, we read works by the philosopher Peter Singer. Singer, an animal rights advocate, is a utilitarian theorist. He would argue that raising money for Patches is a poor investment, that $5000 or more dollars would be far better used as a donation to help many cats not just one cat. He is right. And yet any assistance you can provide--no matter how small--would mean so much to that one cat. And also to that one cat’s owner.
I adopted Patches because she, like me, has a heart condition. I am feeling very scared and sad for her; I am sure that many of my own feelings about my own health and my own heart are making this even harder. And that is why any help that you can provide will mean so very much not only to Patches but also to me.
Please know that any excess funds will be donated to BARCS. Just like me, BARCS refused to give up on Patches.
I had open heart surgery in February of 2014. My first open heart surgery was in 1975, when I was only 18 months old. In March of 2014, I was recovering from my second surgery, weak and scared, and I came across a Facebook post about a young cat named Patches with a heart condition. The situation was dire. Patches was in a shelter in Baltimore (BARCS) because her elderly owner had died. She came to the shelter with four kittens, all of which were adopted almost immediately--but no one would adopt Patches because of her heart condition.
My sister and my father were visiting, trying to help me and my family while I recovered from my heart surgery. I convinced my sister to drive me an hour to Baltimore so that I could meet Patches. It was my second car ride since coming home from the hospital.
To make a long story a bit shorter, with my husband’s approval and my sister’s continued assistance as a personal driver, I adopted Patches. It was with great surprise that, after the adoption was finalized, we were given a significant sum of money that had been donated to BARCS in Patches’ name. We were able to use this money, along with a gift from my father and some money of our own, to pay for Patches to see a veterinary cardiologist. We were also able to afford for Patches to be spayed at a facility that was able to provide advanced heart and aesthesia monitoring during the procedure. We were told she might not survive the spay surgery, but she did. We were told by the cardiologist that she had a level 4/5 murmur and a condition called tetralogy of fallot. That is the exact heart problem that I have. It is rare.
Patches is smart and playful and friendly. She loves our three children. She loves my husband and cuddles with him endlessly every time him comes home from the trips that his work sometimes requires. Patches and our hound dog, King, have a dynamic and fascinating relationship. She is the most affectionate and quirky cat that I have ever known. I love her so very much.
Sometime over the last month, Patches ate something--we do not know what. This foreign object is lodged in her intestine. She is not able to eat without vomiting and she is not passing stools. The wonderful vets and staff at the Takoma Park Animal Clinic in Maryland have helped us do everything possible to avoid surgery. But no medications or other interventions have worked. Patches needs surgery or she will die. To make matters more expensive and far more scary, she may not survive the surgery because of her heart condition.
I am subsequently taking a rapidly declining Patches to an emergency animal hospital today. The hope is that the facility we choose can provide the surgery and the cardiac care that she needs to, hopefully, survive the surgery. Initial estimates are as high as $8000.
In a course I teach at American University, we read works by the philosopher Peter Singer. Singer, an animal rights advocate, is a utilitarian theorist. He would argue that raising money for Patches is a poor investment, that $5000 or more dollars would be far better used as a donation to help many cats not just one cat. He is right. And yet any assistance you can provide--no matter how small--would mean so much to that one cat. And also to that one cat’s owner.
I adopted Patches because she, like me, has a heart condition. I am feeling very scared and sad for her; I am sure that many of my own feelings about my own health and my own heart are making this even harder. And that is why any help that you can provide will mean so very much not only to Patches but also to me.
Please know that any excess funds will be donated to BARCS. Just like me, BARCS refused to give up on Patches.
Organizer
Lydia Morris Fettig
Organizer
Takoma Park, MD