Save Pumpkin
Donation protected
This precious Maine Coon X Ragdoll 6mth old kitten named Pumpkin is very sick and needs surgery to survive. His family loves him very much (Sherry, Bob, Jordan, and Olivia Sprecher) and need help funding his surgery to get him the help he needs.
Pumpkin's saga began at 11:55am on New Year's Eve - 5 min before his vet closed for the long holiday weekend. Rescue expenses are more than double what they normally would be and include 3 trips to the ER Vet and transfer to a specialty hospital in Buffalo Grove, IL
Total ER Vet bills will be $7500 or more.
We are trying to raise a little over half to help the family make the decision to give the hospital permission for the emergency surgery and not put him down.
Like many in 2020, the family has suffered difficult losses this year including Sherry's mom followed by the family's 16-year old beloved pet, and difficult eLearning adjustments for Jordan amid the losses. Pumpkin has brought much-needed love and joy to them as they have been grieving - we don't want to see them have to deal with another loss.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Timeline/Details (from Sherry):
New Year's Eve morning: We called the vet with some upsetting symptoms Pumpkin was having. The vet said they were about to close and referred us to the emergency vet, saying he needed to be seen right away. We took him in with the belief he had a GI obstruction that could be life-threatening. He had a fever and was dehydrated. They kept him for 24-hours on IV fluids and was xray-ed 3 times to rule out the obstruction and to be certain that GI contents were moving. $1100 ICU, 24-hour IVs, 3 progressive xrays/radiography
New Year's Day: Pumpkin came home, was ravenously hungry, drank a lot of water, played and jumped around as usual with only slight lethargy from his hospital ordeal. We were confident he was moving in the right direction - all was well and we went to bed comforted.
Jan 2nd, 6am: While Bob was making coffee with his back to Pumpkin, he heard a loud thud and then heard Pumpkin crying. We think that he was stretching and, possibly groggy from the previous night's hospital stay, wasn't completely aware that he was on his ledge. He had fallen between 8 and 10 feet from the ledge onto the stairs leading to the den - given his injuries later discovered, he probably hit the edge of one of the steps full-force onto his abdomen. Bob ran to get me and we found him hunched in a corner crying softly and screeched when we tried to pick him up. We rushed him back to the ER vet to rule out broken back/bones and/or internal injuries. The ER vet found nothing worrisome and sent him home on pain meds. $350 exam, xray/radiography
New Year's Day: Pumpkin did not improve throughout the day. We called the emergency ER several times not knowing what to do. They had us come back to pick up more pain meds for him. On their advice, we decided to let him rest and hoped the soreness from the fall would subside. $27 pain meds.
Jan 3rd: By 5:30am the next morning, Pumpkin had not had anything to eat or drink for over 30 hours, had attempted to use the litter with no success/output, and was lying on the floor on his side barely able to lift his head. We rushed him back to the ER at 6am where finally a good diagnostic vet saw him and discovered his abdomen was filled with fluid that turned out to be urine (uroabdomena) and said he needed to be transferred immediately to the Veterinary Specialty Center in Buffalo Grove and would most likely require emergency surgery. Her guess was that he injured his bladder somehow in the fall, but was unsure whether it might be a genetic disorder and not related to the fall - just a co-current event? Coincidental? $440 exam, xray/radiography, IV fluids, catheter
Jan 3rd 10am: We picked him up from the ER vet with catheter, IV and drip bag and drove him to VSC, Buffalo Grove. They took him in as soon as we got there and very quickly ascertained that he needed immediate surgery or he would die within hours. When they told us the surgical estimate, $8000, we couldn't believe it. Of course we were all crying and decided that we absolutely could not justify that expense and that we would have to let him go. After the last several months of grieving, we were miserable facing this reality. Dr. Ida at VSC appealed to its financial decision-makers and was able to bring down the estimate $2300 to a range of $4400 - $5700 by removing some of the pre-op testing (contrast study to pinpoint the area needing repair, etc) and reducing his stay from 48 hours to 24 hours. She said the surgery was urgent, but could give us 5 minutes to decide. My pet-lover friends who knew what we were dealing with each reached out. One called to pray with us, several were saying they were praying for wisdom and peace as we were having to make the decision to let him go, 3 jumped in to help with financial resolutions, including Jennifer who immediately said "I'll start a gofundme" and I just texted "ok". $4400 - $5700 estimated surgery/ICU expense.
Jan 3rd, 12pm: With this hope of help, we called the doctor back and gave approval for the surgery. We are so grateful for the response so far and slightly embarrassed since we know so many are dealing with struggles for their own family, much less a pet. But, not only did we want to save this special, smart, and funny kitty, he also has been a therapy animal for each of us in different ways.
Jan 3rd, 7:45pm: Vet surgeon, Dr. Krier, called with the news that Pumkin's surgery went very well. When they opened him up, they discovered his bladder was burst from the neck of the bladder, up the middle, all the way to the other end. His surrounding organs were bathed in urine and "angry" requiring her to flush them and add an abdominal draining tube. He was in the ICU, but she felt hopeful that he would be able to come home the next day or, at least, be transferred to a lower cost 24-hour vet hospital to help us with the cost.
Jan 4th 8am: Vet ICU dr called with an update. He did well through the night, but since the abdominal drain was "very productive", they want to keep it in for the next 48-hrs along with a urethra catheter to encourage healing of the bladder and not allow it to get too full. They will transfer him to the regular kitty ward and off of ICU asap to defray costs as much as possible. However, they are not comfortable with moving him for a number of reasons - primarily because of the abdominal drain and the potential for sepsis.
How the expense added up:
$1100 - 12/31 hospitalization
$350 - 1/2 x-ray from fall
$27 - additional pain meds
$440 - 1/3 recheck and internal injury diagnostic
$650 - 1/3 VSC abdominal ultrasound and abdominal fluid diagnostic
$5300 - surgery estimate; 72-hour stay (low-end estimate was for a 24-hour stay)
___________
$7867
Pumpkin's saga began at 11:55am on New Year's Eve - 5 min before his vet closed for the long holiday weekend. Rescue expenses are more than double what they normally would be and include 3 trips to the ER Vet and transfer to a specialty hospital in Buffalo Grove, IL
Total ER Vet bills will be $7500 or more.
We are trying to raise a little over half to help the family make the decision to give the hospital permission for the emergency surgery and not put him down.
Like many in 2020, the family has suffered difficult losses this year including Sherry's mom followed by the family's 16-year old beloved pet, and difficult eLearning adjustments for Jordan amid the losses. Pumpkin has brought much-needed love and joy to them as they have been grieving - we don't want to see them have to deal with another loss.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Timeline/Details (from Sherry):
New Year's Eve morning: We called the vet with some upsetting symptoms Pumpkin was having. The vet said they were about to close and referred us to the emergency vet, saying he needed to be seen right away. We took him in with the belief he had a GI obstruction that could be life-threatening. He had a fever and was dehydrated. They kept him for 24-hours on IV fluids and was xray-ed 3 times to rule out the obstruction and to be certain that GI contents were moving. $1100 ICU, 24-hour IVs, 3 progressive xrays/radiography
New Year's Day: Pumpkin came home, was ravenously hungry, drank a lot of water, played and jumped around as usual with only slight lethargy from his hospital ordeal. We were confident he was moving in the right direction - all was well and we went to bed comforted.
Jan 2nd, 6am: While Bob was making coffee with his back to Pumpkin, he heard a loud thud and then heard Pumpkin crying. We think that he was stretching and, possibly groggy from the previous night's hospital stay, wasn't completely aware that he was on his ledge. He had fallen between 8 and 10 feet from the ledge onto the stairs leading to the den - given his injuries later discovered, he probably hit the edge of one of the steps full-force onto his abdomen. Bob ran to get me and we found him hunched in a corner crying softly and screeched when we tried to pick him up. We rushed him back to the ER vet to rule out broken back/bones and/or internal injuries. The ER vet found nothing worrisome and sent him home on pain meds. $350 exam, xray/radiography
New Year's Day: Pumpkin did not improve throughout the day. We called the emergency ER several times not knowing what to do. They had us come back to pick up more pain meds for him. On their advice, we decided to let him rest and hoped the soreness from the fall would subside. $27 pain meds.
Jan 3rd: By 5:30am the next morning, Pumpkin had not had anything to eat or drink for over 30 hours, had attempted to use the litter with no success/output, and was lying on the floor on his side barely able to lift his head. We rushed him back to the ER at 6am where finally a good diagnostic vet saw him and discovered his abdomen was filled with fluid that turned out to be urine (uroabdomena) and said he needed to be transferred immediately to the Veterinary Specialty Center in Buffalo Grove and would most likely require emergency surgery. Her guess was that he injured his bladder somehow in the fall, but was unsure whether it might be a genetic disorder and not related to the fall - just a co-current event? Coincidental? $440 exam, xray/radiography, IV fluids, catheter
Jan 3rd 10am: We picked him up from the ER vet with catheter, IV and drip bag and drove him to VSC, Buffalo Grove. They took him in as soon as we got there and very quickly ascertained that he needed immediate surgery or he would die within hours. When they told us the surgical estimate, $8000, we couldn't believe it. Of course we were all crying and decided that we absolutely could not justify that expense and that we would have to let him go. After the last several months of grieving, we were miserable facing this reality. Dr. Ida at VSC appealed to its financial decision-makers and was able to bring down the estimate $2300 to a range of $4400 - $5700 by removing some of the pre-op testing (contrast study to pinpoint the area needing repair, etc) and reducing his stay from 48 hours to 24 hours. She said the surgery was urgent, but could give us 5 minutes to decide. My pet-lover friends who knew what we were dealing with each reached out. One called to pray with us, several were saying they were praying for wisdom and peace as we were having to make the decision to let him go, 3 jumped in to help with financial resolutions, including Jennifer who immediately said "I'll start a gofundme" and I just texted "ok". $4400 - $5700 estimated surgery/ICU expense.
Jan 3rd, 12pm: With this hope of help, we called the doctor back and gave approval for the surgery. We are so grateful for the response so far and slightly embarrassed since we know so many are dealing with struggles for their own family, much less a pet. But, not only did we want to save this special, smart, and funny kitty, he also has been a therapy animal for each of us in different ways.
Jan 3rd, 7:45pm: Vet surgeon, Dr. Krier, called with the news that Pumkin's surgery went very well. When they opened him up, they discovered his bladder was burst from the neck of the bladder, up the middle, all the way to the other end. His surrounding organs were bathed in urine and "angry" requiring her to flush them and add an abdominal draining tube. He was in the ICU, but she felt hopeful that he would be able to come home the next day or, at least, be transferred to a lower cost 24-hour vet hospital to help us with the cost.
Jan 4th 8am: Vet ICU dr called with an update. He did well through the night, but since the abdominal drain was "very productive", they want to keep it in for the next 48-hrs along with a urethra catheter to encourage healing of the bladder and not allow it to get too full. They will transfer him to the regular kitty ward and off of ICU asap to defray costs as much as possible. However, they are not comfortable with moving him for a number of reasons - primarily because of the abdominal drain and the potential for sepsis.
How the expense added up:
$1100 - 12/31 hospitalization
$350 - 1/2 x-ray from fall
$27 - additional pain meds
$440 - 1/3 recheck and internal injury diagnostic
$650 - 1/3 VSC abdominal ultrasound and abdominal fluid diagnostic
$5300 - surgery estimate; 72-hour stay (low-end estimate was for a 24-hour stay)
___________
$7867
Organizer and beneficiary
Jennifer Ellers
Organizer
Hampshire, IL
Sherry Bateman Sprecher
Beneficiary