Hi, my name is Iza and I’m hoping to raise some funds for my cat, Miguel, for his urgent medical and surgical treatments.

Miguelly is our sweet 7-year old boy, the eldest amongst our 5 babies. We have 3 rescue cats (Miguel, Jose and Dante), a 5-year old dog (Byron) and a 14 month old baby boy. They all mean the world to us and they all love each other.

We adopted Miguel in July 2018. He’s the reason my husband was converted and became a cat dad. Back then, we didn’t even know he’s a Russian Blue. Although we didn’t really care about breed, we knew from the start that he’s a very special cat. The first time we saw him, he was very shy but so sweet. We just fell in love immediately. The shelter told us that he was found in the streets, almost blind, had ear infection, infested with fleas and in poor health. But with the amazing effort of their team, they were able to help him thrive and surpass all the challenges. Right from the start, he’s already a fighter.

The past few days, we noticed that he hasn’t been feeling well : Loss of weight and appetite, lethargic, not using his litter box and been urinating in random places in the house. Then two days ago, we noticed bloody urine everywhere and he’s been meowing a lot, which I believe is because of pain. We brought him to our local vet last Friday. He had a full-check up and Xray; and our greatest fear was confirmed that he has a urethral blockage caused by bladder stones. Urethral blockage in cats is a medical emergency and delay in treatment can be fatal.

The vet tried to unblock him by using a catheter but was unsuccessful due to resistance. They had to aspirate urine directly from his bladder, a procedure called cystocentesis. This involves inserting a sterile needle into the bladder through the abdominal wall. There was so much blood in the urine sample they collected and decided to transfer him to a specialist hospital for further investigation and management.

Miguel was admitted in the specialist hospital for strict monitoring and had to be put under anaesthesia for the procedure. The vet successfully inserted an indwelling catheter to unblock his urethra and drain his bloody urine. They sent the collected urine sample to the lab, but was unable to find any crystals (to identify the type of bladder stones); which could indicate that the stones are actually bigger in size and won’t pass through the catheter. Identifying the type of stones is important for effective treatment, prevention and management strategies. So we were told that Miguel definitely needs surgery to remove all the bladder stones, because once the catheter is removed, there is a very high chance that he will be blocked again which means lots of pain, bloody urine and possibly death if untreated.

Since it’s a public holiday weekend, we were told that the specialist hospital doesn’t have an in-house surgeon and will need to call a surgeon from another facility and this will cost us at least $7000, on top of the $5000-$6000 bill for the 48 hour hospital admission and procedure.

So we opted to go back and do the surgery at our local vet. We were lucky we’re able to squeeze him in for surgery in spite of the local vet’s busy schedule for the day. After 2-3 hours of waiting, Miguel finally got admitted and is due for surgery tomorrow morning. We were quoted $3000-$5000 estimate for the cystostomy and will need more funds for any medications and special food post-op.

I just got back from unpaid maternity leave 5 months ago and is still struggling to keep up with our finances — mortgage, bills, etc. I had a high-risk pregnancy and traumatic complicated birth experience; and we’ve been in and out of the hospital and had to see a lot of specialists for our baby’s medical issues which is still ongoing. Our 14 month old baby is also due for an eye surgery soon and needs regular treatments for other health conditions.

As much as my husband and I try to make ends meet, we’re still struggling and couldn’t afford Miguel’s medical expenses. We tried to apply for VetPay - a payment plan to finance the expenses but got denied.

So here I am, humbly asking for help. Any amount is very much appreciated.

Miguel has changed our lives for the better. He’s not only an important member of our family but also our best friend and our emotional support cat, who helped us get through the most difficult times.

Please help us bring Miguelly back home.

Much love from The Cooper Family x