Hey all, my name is Keith and this is my buddy Howl. I've been his dad for about 10 years since I got him from a rescue when he was a year and a half years old, and we've been pretty separable. Being a male cat, he's had a lot of health issues over the years but nothing that's been as debilitating as the one he's going through now.

I'll try to keep this concise, but Howl has had issues eating and drinking for a few months now. After a few vet visits, changing his diet, replacing his water fountain, giving him extra medical attention (and more attention in general), it's been a very bumpy road. He's lost a lot of weight (down to 6 lbs) and this past weekend has relapsed into vomiting anything that goes in his stomach.

I had to act fast so I took him to my regular vet and they did a second round of testing. Their diagnosis is that he has an obstruction in his intestines that is causing enough blockage that he's unable to process much at a time. To put in plainly, he can't use the bathroom because he's dehydrated, he's dehydrated because he can't drink water, and when he tries to eat or drink, he throws up because there's a blockage in his stomach.

My only option right now is to take him in for an exploratory exam and, most likely, surgery to remove the obstruction. It may be a giant hairball, or it may be something worse. Regardless, as his dad, my only choice is to take him in.

This creates a problem for me because this year has seen several vet visits and two maxed out care credit charges. To put it bluntly, I'm at a very uncomfortable limit. I'm going to be taking on quite a lot of freelance work to offset this but to be transparent, it's not enough for the short term. The best option that I could think of was to start this Gofundme.

I realize there are a lot of things going on right now and a lot of causes that are important. My little guy means the world to me, and I don't know what else to do. So I'm asking that if there's anything you or someone you know can give and help him with this surgery, it would mean so much. I plan on posting updates when the procedure happens and will let everyone know how it goes. Thank you so much for your consideration and I can't thank you enough for helping me take care of my buddy Howl.