Roman's Perineal urethrostomy surgery

Hi my name is Angela Smith & this is my 8yr old son's cat Roman. Roman is in desperate need of Perineal urethrostomy surgery due to his ongoing uti/blockage issues. A perineal urethrostomy (sometimes referred to as a PU) is a surgical procedure that is most commonly performed on male cats with a urinary obstruction. This procedure removes the narrowest part of the urethra (the tube that transports the urine from the bladder to the exterior of the body), allowing easier urination with a lower risk of reobstruction.

Male cats develop urinary obstructions much more readily than female cats, due to differences in urinary tract anatomy between the two sexes. While the female urethra is relatively short and maintains a consistent diameter as it travels from the bladder to its external opening, the male urethra differs in that it is slightly longer and, more importantly, it narrows as it enters the penis. This narrowing of the urethra predisposes males to urinary obstructions, in which the urethra becomes blocked with stones, blood clots, mucus, or tumors. A perineal urethrostomy creates a new urinary opening that decreases the length of the urethra and allows urine to bypass this narrowed region. This surgery can decrease the likelihood of recurring obstruction. 9 months ago, on 11/23/20 we had a house fire we lost nearly everything in that fire. 2 fish, a hamster & Romans mother to the fire. Roman & his uncle donut survived & managed to get out completely unharmed. As a single mother of 3 children, bouncing back after all that has come with some setbacks. We finally got a new apartment in March 2021 & have slowly but surely started our lives over. So as you can imagine, this is having a huge impact on me financially. Roman isn't just a pet. He is equally a part of this family & is loved beyond measure. The night of the fire, we couldn't find any of our pets as we stood outside of our home watching the fireman try to combat The blaze. My son sobbed & sobbed which Broke me to pieces. He's grown up with his cat since he was 4yrs old. He watched his cats birth & even assisted with easing him out of his mother (muffin who passed in the fire) than, about 3 hrs into the fire we spotted Roman next door completely unharmed on our next door neighbors front lawn. My son lit up like a Christmas tree full of joy. I brought Roman to the vet on Saturday 8/14 where he had to stay for 24hrs. They unblocked him & I picked him up the following day. The vet bill was for $2568 I was blown away. How can I pay for this vet bill is all I could think as I looked at the uncertainty on my son's face. The vet suggested I apply for a care credit. To my surprise I was approved for $4,200 so I'm thinking okay, that's a bit of a stress reliever at least I can pay it off slowly over time on a month to month basis rather than upfront. So we brought him home on Sunday 8/15 & then through the night we became concerned because he still was not urinating. He constantly kept straining to urinate & was lucky if he could even get a quarter of a dropout. He was in complete agony. I had no choice but to bring him back the very next day which was Monday 8/16 where it was determined that he indeed blocked again. So at this point I felt like the $2,568 that was charged to the credit card was all for nothing, I felt completely hopeless as they said that he would need to stay for an additional 48 hours I'm thinking I only have about $1,600 left in credit, I can barely afford the bill let alone whatever it will cost for him to stay for an additional 48 hours. So I agreed to have him stay where they were going to catheterize him for his entire stay and continuously flush his kidneys out because the infection started to reach his kidneys he went from a 1.5 which is a normal range to a 5.4. they got his kidney levels back down to a normal range which is great but there's still a lot of what they refer to as either a grit, sludge or sand inside of him which is blocking his pee hole and making it difficult for his pee to pass through. It' is now 8/19 & he couldn't come home yesterday so they ended up keeping him another night the doctor called me at noon today and said that they finally removed his catheter and she's concerned because he still is straining to urinate and she is almost certain that he is just one of those cats that NEED the Perineal urethrostomy which on average is between 4 to $5,000 for the surgery alone. That is not including potential hospital stays for recovery and monitoring which is why I put the GoFundMe at $7000 there is absolutely no way that I can pay for this surgery. His vet bill is currently just over $5,000 which I can barely pay let alone an additional $7,000 for surgery that he needs. I wish they would just let me have the $5,000 back I just feel like it was all a waste of time & money and I wish I could have just used the CareCredit of $4,200 towards his surgery and then I could have just put the 800 towards it & if he would have needed extra money aside from that for additional monitoring and recovery stays I could have made a smaller GoFundMe. I had to have a talk that I dreaded to even have to have with my son. I explained to him that if his cat blocks again after the first vet stay that I would try one more time which would be a second time and that if it didn't work that second time that I would unfortunately have to put him to sleep which they said would cost me $210 or $400 for cremation/ashes he is heartbroken & as his mother I feel hopeless & so useless right now. So as a last resort making this go from me is all I could come up with before having to make that decision of putting him down. Roman is a completely healthy cat aside from his UTI issue. He is an amazing cat and the bond that he & my son have is so rare & out of this world. My son refers to his cat as his son. I have never seen a bond between a child & a pet like this before. I don't drive so I can't even take him to go visit his cat. The two times that I took Roman to the vet it costed me $25 there & $25 back on 8/15 by Uber/Lyft & the same on 8/16. my sister works Alot, so she was able to take me to drop him off on 8/16 & bring me back home. I feel like I am in a race against Time. I can't even explain how emotionally broken I feel. I wish I could upload a million videos & pictures of Roman just so the world can see how much of a gem he truly is. I understand that this is no one's problem but my own, but as I mentioned above I don't know what else to do and I do not have the heart to just put him down without trying. I am hoping that this GoFundMe is successful I am also willing to send any proof or documentation I will list the veterinarians address and phone number below if anyone would like to call to verify. Veterinary emergency group 790 nj-3 Clifton New Jersey 07012 phone # (201) [phone redacted] if anyone would like to contact me personally my phone is (973) [phone redacted] whether your donation is big or small or simply a simple share, or even just leaving some kind words, please know that it is all accepted & greatly appreciate it. Roman is supposed to come home tonight. But they want to keep him until 6:00 p.m. to see if he can pee on his own. Him staying again overnight is like another $2,500 they said that he could possibly come home later on depending on if he pees but I don't know how much time he would have if I do take him home and I don't have money for him to stay an additional night. Please help us even if you could just share it on your social medias or with your friends, coworkers, & family. Thank you so much for taking your time out & reading our story.