Help Oscar Beat Cancer

Please help us continue to treat our little boy Oscar’s small cell lymphoma. We’ve been going through significant medical treatments costing more than $12,500 over the past three months. His oncologist has finally found a treatment that is likely to send his cancer into remission, but it will cost an additional $5,000 - $10,000. We never thought we’d be making one of these, but we’ve exhausted all our funds and need your help.

We adopted Oscar in September 2022, after he was found outside in Manhattan by the cat rescue where I’ve been volunteering for 11 years. Even though Oscar had a scraggly lion cut due to his fur having been extensively matted, we immediately fell in love with him. How could we not with his sweet, thoughtful eyes and his spitting resemblance to our two other cats, Jack & Grant. Moreover, Oscar's sweet disposition and penchant for chin rubs are absolutely irresistible.

Once Oscar joined our household, we quickly noticed that his appetite wasn't as strong as his brothers'. In addition, he experienced occasional vomiting that wasn't just due to hair balls.

As months went by, we, along with Jack & Grant, got to know Oscar better, watching him feverishly chase the laser pointer around a room and occasionally smacking around the mouse toys we have laying around.

Unfortunately, on the night of Christmas, Oscar vomited a large amount and subsequently refused food. We immediately drove him to the nearest emergency vet clinic to get an ultrasound. We were heartbroken to find out that Oscar's entire intestinal tract was swollen, a strong indication that he had GI lymphoma. Upon learning this, took Oscar to the nearest veterinarian hospital for treatment.

After an endoscopic biopsy, a colonoscopy, another ultrasound, and bloodwork, the specialist concluded in January that Oscar has small-cell lymphoma in his GI tract. This is a treatable form of cancer and cats with this condition live 2-4 years with treatment, so we immediately began treatment. This includes a daily cocktail of prednisolone, a steroid to treat the inflammation in his GI, along with anti-diarrhea, anti-nausea, and appetite stimulant medications to treat the side effects of the steroid and his bi-weekly chemotherapy (chlorambucil) dose.

This weekend we took him for a full work-up to check if the cancer was getting better, but unfortunately it has not. His oncologist recommended that we switch to a new chemotherapy medication administered intravenously at the hospital on a weekly basis. She has a lot of hope that our little guy will recover, but unfortunately the costs have gone above and beyond what we can afford. We have already spent $12,500 out-of-pocket on his treatment and the cat rescue I volunteer with has contributed an additional $1,000.

And that’s how we've found ourselves starting this GoFundMe. Going forward we will need to spend an additional $5,000 - $10,000. We know that everyone at some point has their own struggles and therefore, we are deeply grateful for any generosity you and your family might be able to contribute to ours. Please help our little boy Oscar get the treatment he needs so he can go back to chasing around the laser pointer and being the happy cat he once was.

With love and appreciation, Kristiana, Wes, Oscar, Jack, and Grant.