Hello. We are the family of 18-year-old Jewel, a 5-pound cat in the body of a lion. She is tough, feisty, and throws the occasional tantrum, which we find adorable. She was raised as a baby in a house with pit bulls. When I picked her up so many years ago (she was in a bad family situation so we took her in), she was standing in the door right up front of six giant pit bulls. We knew she was a tough girl. She is also my daughter's emotional support kitty, as she is on the autistic spectrum and has debilitating anxiety. Jewel picked her as her person, and my daughter has thrived on her love ever since. Her name comes from her gorgeous blue eyes. She is our amazing handful of love. Earlier this week, we noticed facial swelling and took her to the vet. She was given antibiotics and pain meds for an infected tooth. One day later, the abscess blew out of her face. This was a true emergency. She would die a painful death without extraction or need to be put down. She has had a heart murmur all of her life and she has kidney disease, which are managed. She also has occasional seizures. In spite of her age and existing comorbidities, we knew the inner strength of this cat. We knew she would pull through, and she deserves the chance to live in comfort with my family and especially my daughter. We had to act fast. She had surgery two days later as a senior cat with cardiac precautions. She had some difficulty maintaining a normal temperature, but after she was stable, we brought our baby home. She is successfully taking an array of medications, and she is eating, drinking, and returning to her lovely, feisty, silly self. We were forced to use mortgage money to make the down payment on her surgery, and the balance will have to come from needs we have as a family, not wants. We have a lot of human health problems in our home, and healthcare insurance in the US is expensive and pitiful for coverage. We have spent a family lifetime of taking in street cats, caring for ferals, taking in dogs nobody wants, and loving and caring for our woodland critters. Truly, animal lives are the conduit through which we become better humans. We are asking for any help you may offer to pay for our girl's surgery so we do not fall far behind in our mortgage and healthcare expenses. I feel ashamed to ask, as we all suffer with some type of financial strain. Thank you for letting us share our story and for allowing me the grace to ask for help.