Help Save Lemon

Lemon is my lifeline and the light of my life. He's helped everyone who's ever met him to feel calm and comforted. He's docile, funny, loves being social and giving hugs, and loves helping me train people at my job. He is a therapy cat to all of us and an extension of my soul.

Lemon has steadily been losing weight since February, which I assumed was a result of my roommate and her two cats moving out. I thought it was separation anxiety from a big environmental change. I tried all the tricks in the book to get him to eat more, and he still refused to eat like he used to. He's always been a grazer and a small cat, but it was different this time.

We then tried 2 different appetite stimulants over the course of a couple of months (Elura & Miratraz), but he had weird reactions to both. I brought him into the vet after he didn't respond well to the second stimulant, and they did bloodwork, an ultrasound and some xrays.

His bloodwork looked normal and didn't indicate any type of organ issues.

However, on the ultrasound they did see that his GI tract is inflamed as well discovered a tumor. The issue is that because he is so small, they can't tell which organ the tumor is attached to.

They sent the ultrasound results to a specialist to get a second opinion, who also agreed and said the same thing. The location of the tumor affects everything. Without this information, they can't safely recommend a treatment plan, or gather whether it is deadly or not. This is because one treatment plan could help if it's one thing, but exasperate the issue if it's a different cause. But, in order to get the information he needs a CT scan.

They gave him medication to manage his symptoms (Cerenia, Prednisone) but that's all they can do until the scan.

I will not be able to take the next steps to know if Lemon has a few months left or a few years until the CT scan is complete. The problem is that the CT scan with everything included is $2200.

I set him up with a CT appointment on July 3rd, and they're requesting a $500 deposit up front, which is taken out of the cost of the procedure itself. (I feel like my cat's life is being held for ransom with it all). I've used up my savings but I was able to open a Care Credit account. The limit is $2500, but there is only $1883 left because of the cost of his bloodwork and ultrasound.

Unfortunately, my family is not in a position to help me, as they just spent their money saving my little dog Ophie, who was recently attacked at a dog park (mercifully, she has recovered, which I am thankful for every single day).

I am not expecting to get $2200. It's absolutely a crazy amount of money. There is literally no reason why things like this should cost that much. If I can just get it down enough to put on my Care Credit that would be amazing.

I just need to know if I need to prepare for the worst. He's a medical mystery, and it is absolute agony not knowing the truth, and absolute agony to think about if it's lymphoma.

SO, Thank you to every single person who's even looking at this or who is sharing.

For those of you donating, I will send screenshots of everything and update you on everything and try to pay you back for your kindness however I can in the future, and hopefully be able to donate back once my finances are on track if god forbid you need anything.