Please help us save our kitten’s life

We were blessed to unexpectedly bring Scooter into our home last December. His sweet, outgoing, and affectionate personality immediately won us all over and served as comfort and healing for my kids and I as we navigated my divorce and other big life changes in 2021. We couldn’t believe our luck to have found him.

However, last Thursday we were advised by his vet to bring him to an emergency facility for swelling and fluid in his abdomen. The wonderful team at VCCR gave us the scariest scenario we could imagine: Scooter most likely has FIP.

FIP is an inflammatory condition that results when a usually harmless cat virus becomes dangerously inflammatory to the cat’s digestive tract, lungs, and/ or their nervous system. A couple of years ago this condition would have been 100% fatal.

The good news is that there is a treatment. The bad news is that there’s nothing simple about it. The Chinese manufactured drug is not currently legal in the United States. The vet tech let us know about an online group where we found a source of the drug. It needs to be injected every day for the next twelve weeks.

Because the drug isn’t FDA approved, it will not be covered by Scooter’s pet insurance. Because it’s injected, we’re going to need a lot of supplies and support.

Here is a breakdown of how we plan to spend any funds generously donated:

*$1,500 for the medication itself: we won’t know how much it will end up being but this would most likely cover it. It’s dosed by weight and hopefully he’ll be gaining some weight as he gets healthier

*$200 for other supplies: each injection requires a clean syringe and two separate needles. He also needs extra kitten food and treats to keep him occupied while he gets his injection and to keep his weight up.

*$200 for other medications and procedures: this stuff will hopefully be covered by his insurance but we’ll still be on the hook for a portion. While on this medication Scooter will need blood work four times, a course of prednisolone, possibly gabapentin for pain management, or possibly B12 if he develops anemia. He would also benefit from supplements: probiotics to help with probable digestive issues, a supplement to help support his liver, and a wound care spray to soothe his injection sites that can develop chemical burns

*$100 to help cover Go Fund Me fees

Anything donated above and beyond will go to extra supplies and if anything is leftover we’ll donate it to a non profit to help other kitties like Scooter beat FIP