Edit 8/8/2026 - Despite our best attempts to treat him while waiting for surgery, October suddenly crashed and passed away last night. Thank you to everyone for your support, donations have been turned off and I will be taking him to get cremated once I find a place that offers private cremation for pets.

October is a 5 year old tabby who I've had since he was around 6 months old. He was found malnourished, covered in fleas and abandoned on the corner of my street. I later discovered that he had permanent nerve damage to the left side of his face from likely abuse by his previous owner.

He has chronic ear infections that led to him needing 2 surgeries in 2023 on his right ear, and has a lazy eye on his left side. In april he was treated for a serious ear infection that led to a head tilt and balance issues which resolved with antibiotics.

In the past few weeks, he's been eating less, losing weight, and having respiratory issues and nasal discharge. He was brought to the vet Wednesday July 1st and given a round of antibiotics for a suspected respiratory infection. When he didn't show improvement and began to have blood in his nasal discharge, I brought him back Tuesday July 7th.

He saw a different vet who's seen him many times over the years and was brought back for a while before the vet brought me in the room. I was told that based on his symptoms he had a mass somewhere in his nasal cavity, and while it could be a polyp, they're concerned about a malignant tumor.

Unfortunately, after many calls to different vets, no offices or hospitals anywhere near me have the specialty imaging that October needs outside of Cornell University Hospital. I was informed on the phone that they charge up to $3k for the diagnostic imaging he will need (a CT scan).

I just lost my job and am currently an EMT student, and there's no possible way that I can afford that, but the nature of his condition means that polyp or tumor, it will only get worse over time, and if I cannot get him diagnosed and treated soon I'll have to say goodbye in the interest of not letting him suffer.

October is the sweetest, most affectionate baby you could ever meet. I can't sit down for a second without him crawling into my lap and purring. He deserves so much better, he deserves to live past 5yo. I hate asking for help, and I understand I'm asking for a lot, but he is my baby and I'd do absolutely anything for him. The cover image for this campaign is a current photo of him, and the following are how he used to look before he started getting sick. Thank you for taking the time to read his story <3