Help Grayson fight cancer

If you have a pet, you know that they are more than that. They're a part of the family and that's exactly what Grayson has been to me for the past 3 years - family. Living alone is not the easiest, and having Grayson to come home to has made it far easier and less lonely. If you know him, or have even just seen pictures of him, then you know that Grayson is full of personality and life. He's his own unique cat, very talkative and snuggly, always ready to sit on a lap (or a head,) and hardcore enjoys anything shrimp or chicken-flavored, always coming running any time I step into the kitchen. I may view him as my emotional support cat, but I am certainly his emotional support human.

In mid May, I noticed that Grayson wasn't opening one of his eyes the full way and his third eyelid was pretty prominent. I scheduled a vet appointment for him as I thought he had an eye infection and wanted to see if he needed drops or antibiotics. Within the few days before his vet appointment, he started not eating his dry food, stopped playing or running around, stopped meowing, and then the pupil of the eye that I believed had the infection began to not constrict or dilate.

The vet wasn't sure what was going on at first glance and figured it was more than a respiratory infection, which is what I had began to suspect. After running blood work and an initial chest X-Ray, they noticed that he had an enlarged kidney and we scheduled an ultrasound for him. And that ultrasound along with a cytology report (testing of cells from his kidney and lymph node) confirmed my worst fear: Grayson had cancer.

It was a completely unexpected diagnosis, and one that came one fast. He had been acting like a completely normal cat and all of his vet check-ups hadn't shown any signs of developing disease before this - the decline happened within a week. My vet said that this is fairly normal in cats (as it can be in humans as well) and that a majority of the time, it progresses into high-grade lymphoma very quickly.

Recently, Grayson and I visited an oncologist to discuss treatment options for him, and we are undergoing a steroid treatment that will lead into a chemo treatment for him. This consists of 3 weeks of steroids that he takes daily to bring down the inflammation, and then a chemo pill that he will have to take every 3 weeks along with bloodwork each time. He has high-grade lymphoma throughout his GI tract that has spread through his kidneys, lymph nodes, his esophagus, and they suspect potentially his brain, which is what is causing his eye problems and a change in his meow. It's a lot, but we chose the chemo treatment that best targets cancer in the brain, which isn't the most aggressive treatment, but for the type he has gives him the best chance at going into remission.

The good news is that chemo in cats is different than chemo in humans. It's mostly in pill or liquid form, doesn't have the radiation that would cause him to loose fur, and the oncologist told me that it isn't super rough on cats. And I want to try whatever I can to give Grayson a longer and more comfortable life.

The bad news is that a majority of his procedures so far were not expected or covered by insurance. I am currently working with my pet insurance company to see if the claims will cover his upcoming chemo treatments, which each pill/visit will cost me around $350.

However, his initial vet visit, the bloodwork, X-Rays, cytology, and ultrasound were not covered and together have cost me about $2,500. I had to open a second credit card to pay for them and have put me further in debt. The oncologist is also an hour away from us, which means Grayson and I have to make a 2-hour round trip every couple of weeks to get his treatments, adding extra transportation costs.

Now, I would do anything for Grayson, but these expenses have been a significant burden on paying for my normal monthly bills, the rising price of everything, and my need for a new car. As I just mentioned, the price of living has been steadily increasing for a few years, so creating a GoFundMe for my cat's medical expenses gave me some hesitation, but if I can get help in knocking out these initial expenses and get my insurance to cover his treatments every 3 weeks, I will be able to continue to give Grayson a chance at his best life, and an extended life.

He's only 7 years old and was a rescue at 4 years old, so I haven't been with him for his whole life, but I will be with him for the rest of his life. He's my little buddy. He makes me laugh and cry, and lets me sleep easier at night when he snuggles into bed with me. He's the first face I see every morning and I would like to continue to have more mornings with him. And, if it comes down to it, give him the best end-of-life care possible as well.

All that said, if you are able, please consider contributing to Grayson's medical expenses and share this!

-Abbey & Grayson