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Raja, the Miracle Cat, Needs Help With Vet Bills
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When Raja's senior owner passed away, he was left to fend for himself, staying mostly in the apartment building’s outdoor garden. The seniors in the building came together to feed him, but there was no way he was going to survive the winter.
I met him while volunteering with the seniors and fell in love. I was determined to bring him home and was getting my place ready for adoption when unbeknownst to me, someone took him to a shelter. After interviewing all the seniors and visiting shelter after shelter, I finally found him (many thanks to the North Toronto Cat Rescue). But, our problems had only just begun.
It turns out that Raja has internal issues, causing severe anemia which led him to eat clay litter (showing signs of pica). It began in March, only a few months after I adopted him, when he started behaving abnormally – he was much less social, hiding a lot, eating his litter, displaying persistent diarrhea, and becoming more and more lethargic over time. He could no longer muster up the energy for the play times he used to love. The veterinarian said Raja was a really special case.
Tests were done in May, confirming he had such severe anemia that he required a blood transfusion immediately since his red blood cell count was extremely low. I made the quick call in that moment to do what was needed if there was a chance to extend his life. That could not be it.
So, Raja was admitted to the emergency hospital right away where a life-saving blood transfusion was given to him. He had to stay there for 3 days for the doctors and technicians to make sure there were no adverse reactions with the procedure, and multiple tests were done to look further into the reason for the anemia and other symptoms.
The poor little guy…it was tough and irritating for him having that IV line in his paws and the cone around his head. And it was hard seeing all his shaved patches of fur, where they had to connect the ECG on his chest, take blood from his leg, and his stomach where they did the ultrasound (as you can see from the images on this page).
During this testing in the hospital, he was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) and mycoplasma hemominutum (an organism that infects and ruptures red blood cells, causing anemia in cats with FeLV). More tests are still being done to narrow down the cause and degree of FeLV severity.
This virus, unfortunately, doesn’t have a cure and will likely get much worse.
His vet bills are very high and I can't afford them. We have a fighting chance to give Raja as much of a normal life as possible, now that he has had the blood transfusion.
But, the 3 day hospital stay was $6,000 and Raja is still in and out of the hospital because he needs to be rechecked with the Internal Medicine specialist at the emergency hospital 1 to 2 times each month for now to see how his anemia is, whether the mycoplasma organism is still attacking his system, and to receive the antibiotic medication needed to fight the mycoplasma.
Each hospital visit at the moment includes 2 tests, at least, costing over $600 together; and the consultation with the specialist is another $300. After tax, the total comes to around $1,000 for one of these appointments. It has been exhausting for both Raja and myself each time requiring a lot of preparation before appointments and with how many hours the appointments take.
With this necessary care over this next little while, I hope that Raja will get well enough that he won’t need to go to the hospital as often, at least, and then the costs may be more manageable in the future.
And I will try to update this page again if his condition changes. If you would like further details on anything mentioned here, please don’t hesitate to reach out (Khateja Kadir on Facebook).
I wouldn’t usually ask for donations, but this amazing little soul deserves to live a much fuller life and we can’t do this without the support of our loving community. I want to do what is needed for him in the hope that he can live a happy, healthy life for as long as possible.
But, the road ahead is difficult with the need for ongoing vet visits, tests, medication, a special diet, and needs at home to make his daily life more comfortable (e.g., more expensive natural litter due to his pica, cleaning materials to help with diarrhea and other toilet accidents, stress-relieving products, etc.).
Everyone who has met Raja has fallen in love with him. He is an amazingly gentle, calm, friendly and loving cat with everyone he meets, immediately greeting everyone by rubbing his head and body on them, a sign of endearment. But, since his decline in health, he hasn’t had the energy to do most of the things he used to.
Please donate so that I can keep our miracle boy out of the hospital and give him a chance at a normal life, at the very least, for as long as is possible. Every dollar helps.
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Organizer
Khateja Kadir
Organizer
Mississauga, ON