Rambo Recovery Fund

On Monday, November 13, 2023 at 6pm, we took our kitty Rambo to PASE in south Philly, which specializes in medical emergencies for pets. We were informed that his alkaline levels were high and therefore, his body had been forming crystals in his bladder, leading to a blockage in his urethra, which was preventing him from urinating. If we refused to undergo the procedure to unblock him, he would surely die from the condition. We made this difficult decision to go ahead and do the procedure, despite the fact that it cost an estimate of $3000-$4000. Apparently this is a common problem in young male cats, which sounds like a scam to me.

It was a no brainer. Rambo is a crucial member of our family unit, so losing him was out of the question.

Here's the kitty backstory: In August 2020, I was visiting my friend Gen at her house in north Philly, enjoying the late summer afternoon, guitar in hand, making music on her front porch, when we suddenly began to hear the tiniest mews of all time. Lo and behold, out of the alleyway and into the gutter, stumble five of the most adorable puffs of fur and whiskers either of us had ever seen. We brought them some food, which they happily gobbled down while fumbling over each other and the pile of trash that lay outside the basement window of the house next door - abandoned - where they clearly had been squatting with their mom (who promptly darted the moment she saw her babies were in our care). We scooped them up in Gen's carrier, and brought them inside to clean and dry them, wrap them in blankets, and begin to discuss what the heck we were going to do with this litter. Gen has a cat and a dog, so fostering them was out of the question for her. They were clearly sick and probably had fleas, and although they were with mom, it was obvious to us that she wasn't going to be able to keep all of them alive on the street. (Side note - Gen had actually just experienced this same situation a few months prior, when she and her cousin found this same momma cat's previous litter, which they rescued and her cousin fostered. She knew the signs, and had we not taken them in, they surely would've succumbed to the illness that was probably passed on from mom - or just from living in the trash.) At the time, we were 5 months into what felt like a never-ending pandemic. I was still all but jobless, so fostering five 3-week old kittens in the bedroom of my shared apartment didn't seem like it would be that large of an undertaking...

For the next 2 months,with a ton of help from my partner Jeffrey, I spent almost every minute of my life caring for our newfound fur family. I engineered a pen for them using part of my bedroom, and went right to work finding the perfect forever homes for 3 of them, because I knew it wasn't feasible to keep all 5. I was almost lucky that I didn't have a traditional job to get to, because it allowed me the time to keep an eye on them, bond with them, nurse them back to health, and to watch the start of their precious little lives. We even brought the five of them along with us on multiple roadtrips, to visit friends and family, during which they slept in an adorable pile in their carrier. I even wrote a song and made a music video documenting the beginning of my kitty journey. It was incredibly challenging to constantly be on top of 5 tiny babies that fit in my palm: feeding them, teaching them to use the litter, squirting medicine in their eyes and mouths, searching for them when they managed to squeeze their way into hiding spots. They had endless energy, which was infectious, and watching them bond with each other and play all day long will always be one of the most rewarding times in my life. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

I've always tried my hardest to be independent, but I know when it's time to ask for help, and this feels like one of those times. Despite the fact that I am an artist who works gig to gig, and have no security of any kind, I decided to go ahead and pay for the procedure because we could not fathom losing one of our family members when he's only 3 years into his life. Jeffrey is the hardest working pastry chef on the planet, and is only just managing to pay back the ridiculous school and business loans it takes to even get a foot into the industry. We are looking for any kindness at this time to help us pay back the $3,600 hospital bill and to get started on his prescription diet, while we both find better ways to bring more income to our household. You can also help by sharing our story and fundraiser with the people in your own network who might be able to help out. Thank you for reading our story and for your support.