Operation: Help Save our Soldier's Kitty

The Broken Heart of a Sailor's Cat

Hi, My name is Marilyn Wodzinski, Proud mother of two amazing kids, and our wonderful pets that have become our family too. My daughter Elise is on Active Duty, serving overseas in the U.S. Navy. It's been 1 year since she was home and we all are missing her so very much. Pictured here is Elise with her brother and beloved kitty Marcin. This photo was taken right after she graduated naval bootcamp; Marcin came with us to graduation too because he is her biggest fan!

Marcin was just diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy / Congestive Heart Failure which has led to very costly and unexpected medical and ongoing treatment expenses. Elise has not seen Marcin in an entire year, and this is her best little bud, her baby. She was there for the passing of our last two pets, Kazik (2018) and Sanka (2021), which I just finished paying for. Our wish is for her to see him again and spend at least one more special moment with him before we inevitably will have to say goodbye.

Elise has grown up alongside Marcin, he was always her side kick and confidant. He would run to her at the door, follow her up to bed, sleep curled up beside her or on top of her. He was always at her side doing homework; someone to confide in during the rough high school years, and someone to make you feel not alone. And overall, just a special blessing to have in our family.

Many have had the privilege of meeting Marcin because he is just such an awesome and social cat. He runs with the neighborhood dogs in the backyard and goes on walks with us. He is an adventure-seeking, fearless charismatic kitty.

Just after his recent 15th birthday, he began having breathing issues. We took him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. He spent a couple of nights in the ICU, in an oxygen chamber and getting fluids drained from his little lungs, among other testing and treatment.

After talks in the hospital about consent for CPR during the risky procedures and DNR in case he was too weak and passed out, we were very worried and concerned about him not making it through to the next morning.

With lots of hope and praying, and with the good care of the medical staff, Marcin pulled through. He spent a couple of days in the hospital and was finally released after he could continue breathing on his own. The doctors gave multiple prescription medications that are supposed to help drain fluid out of his lungs and to keep an appetite so he can be nourished and strong enough to go on.

The extra tricky part of all this is balancing his heart treatment with the Stage 2 Kidney disease that he already has. Kidney and heart issues do not work well together because the kidneys need lots of fluids to cleanse them and keep them working, while his heart in its current state cannot take on too many fluids because it is not keeping up with pumping it out and draining on its own. It's been a constant fine-tuning and monitoring and testing. This has also led to many unexpected costly visits to the vet for diagnostics, x-rays, treatment, fluid drainage, medicine, etc.

We understand that Marcin is not a young cat, but definitely young at heart in many other ways! Marcin has been such a huge part of our lives and he still has his young spirit while he is home and we are spending time with him. You would not know he is battling something, cats are good at hiding things for sure. But our sincere hope is to keep him healthy, comfortable, and living long enough for his Sailor mom to make it home to visit from deployment overseas.

Marcin has come a long way since the first bout of vet visits to drain fluid from his lungs. The sudden attack was very surprising since he had been feeling fine and frisky days prior. He is still not out of the high tide yet. He needs close monitoring for breathing and to be given medication twice daily. With frequent vet checkups and seeing a cardiologist this week, the bills are starting to become difficult and Care Credit can only go so far. Prayers are priceless, and your financial donation will go a long way to help keep Marcin comfortable. I am posting this in hopes that those who are in any position to help, can pitch in what they can to help offset some costs, and asking for your prayers to keep Marcin alive.

In the last week and a half so far, I have put almost $4,500 on Care Credit. That does not include the Cardiology visit this week which will cost at least $1,500 I was quoted. That visit will provide us better insight into hopefully a long-term treatment plan to get us through to the days when Elise comes home in a few months. That is $6k so far and quickly rising. If there happens to be anything in additional raised to what covers that amount, then it will be used to continue doctor/hospital visits, fluid drainage, medication and specially fortified foods for Marcin, and eventual burial expenses. After that, if there is anything else, it would go toward Elise's flight to come home since unfortunately, the military does not pay for that.

My sincere thanks for taking the time to read this and Thank you so much for your love, donation and support.