Help Mickey recover from a urinary blockage

I want you to meet Mickey — my 4-year-old Siberian cat. We adopted him out of foster care during the pandemic as a 5-month-old kitten, and he's been our family's most unexpected source of joy ever since. When we first met him, I was just starting out in university, and Mickey became my anchor. He's not just a cat; he's my sense of peace. Mickey adores Minnie, our other cat, with an unabashed and persistent love. When I tell you this guy fell in love with her the second he laid eyes on her, I’m not kidding — he was and still is smitten by her and spends every day trying to earn her affection ❤️ It's agonizing to see him suffer, knowing that there’s nothing more I could do besides desperately empty out my savings account, trying to give him the veterinary care he deserves. Unfortunately, this is not what happened.

Mickey was rushed to the vet urgently Sat July 27th. Our usual vet couldn’t take him on such short notice, so we brought him to the only open one in our vicinity. Mickey had a urinary blockage which, if you’re a male cat owner, you probably know is the scariest and highly critical emergency that could kill the cat in a matter of hours if left untreated. And so began our currently week-long rollercoaster.

The first vet we visited drained his bladder on the 27th and sent us home an hour later with an armful of medications. They did not do any X-rays but immediately told us that there were stones in his bladder and kept taking him away from us to do checkups. For the next few days, Mickey refused to eat or move and still was unable to pee so we took him back to the vet on Mon July 29th. Still, no X-rays. They then inserted a catheter to try and remove the blockage and had him stay overnight until Tues. Not only was this too short of a time to monitor a cat with a catheter, but they were also unprofessional, rude, and made me more scared/confused, insisting I agree to more invasive procedures and keep shelling out money for them. All this time, Mickey seemed to be getting worse every day. We had to keep rushing him back and forth to the clinic during work hours and that became unsustainable.

When we finally decided to turn to our regular vet Thurs, August 1st, they told us that the first vet did things incorrectly and didn’t monitor Mickey long enough post-procedure and that there’s no choice but to start the whole process all over again. They then finally did an X-Ray and determined that there were no stones, unlike what the first vet said, and instead, it was because of urethral spasms. Vet #2 then inserted another catheter, and monitored him for 3 nights. This second procedure could have been entirely avoided had the first vet done his due diligence to perform an X-ray and monitor him for the correct number of nights. I couldn’t sleep well for the week, worried out of my mind that going under so much sedation and medical procedures would kill my cat.

In the end, for 3 urinary drainages + 2 catheter insertions + medications between the two clinics I’ve spent ~$7,000 out of pocket still with the possibility of a more expensive surgery (a Perineal Urethrostomy can be anywhere between $5-$10k) looming over us if a blockage like this ever happens again.

I’m not someone who loves asking people for help, especially when it comes to money. But I’m also someone who’s leaving her steady income at an entry-level position to pursue a master's degree in less than a month, which makes all these unnecessarily inflated vet bills and a potential P.U. more than I can shoulder, despite years of saving responsibly—all because a vet failed to do his due diligence in the first place. I’m hoping to raise some money for Mickey to help me out with vet bills and surgery, should it be necessary.

Those of you who have met Mickey know him to be the friendliest, silliest and most unbothered cat ever—always down for a head scratch, some attention and begging to have some outside time. To see him go from a fluffy ball of sunshine to not being able to walk is something I’ll never be able to rid my mind of, and I will always feel the guilt for taking him to a vet that lacked accountability.

For those who hope to help out you can here, or you can DM me on IG @tiff.xlin if you’d like to e-transfer directly as gofundme takes a cut If this is not feasible for you right now, I completely understand and would love it if you could instead simply share (or lmk of any good pet insurance experiences you had lol) From the bottom of my heart, I thank everyone who has already reached out and sent their thoughts and prayers for Mickey. Your dedication to my cat does not go unnoticed.

Tiffx