Saving Kaleo

Hi, we are Ryan and Addison. And we are fundraising to save our cat, Kaleo.

The first thing you need to know about Kaleo is why he’s named Kaleo. Traditionally coming from a Hawaiian family, it was common to name our pets Hawaiian names. Kaleo so happens to mean loud voice in Hawaiian. And boy has he had a loud voice from the day we rescued him.

We adopted Kaleo and his sister Fiona from a rescue when we were living in Idaho and going to school. We had found out Kaleo had actually been adopted out before, but had been brought back to the rescue because of how loud he would meow, CONSTANTLY. So we knew what we had coming. His loud singing, chirping, calls, and affectionate meows have reminded us he is always with us, usually right behind us and we wind up spinning to avoid stepping on him.

So our hearts began to break when we noticed he stopped talking…

It didn’t start until after a dental cleaning/surgery in January. He became very quiet. Developed a severe head tilt and began to lose his balance and coordination. It took several vet appointments, and finally a CT scan to discover our sweet best friend, has a pituitary tumor.

Where we live in Southern Utah, there are no treatment options. We’ve searched far and wide and after being told again and again, “There’s nothing we can do for you.” We eventually found PetCure Oncology in Gilbert, Arizona. They offer the only treatment for the type of tumor Kaleo has.

It’s called SRS Radiation treatment. And it could save Kaleos life. We were so unprepared for this news, and can’t imagine our life without either Kaleo or Fiona, and we will do anything to save him. Unfortunately there’s no way we could afford the treatment. So we humbly come to you, and ask for your help. Help us extend Kaleos life, and continue to give him and his sister the best life possible.

The Plan

1. Arrive in AZ on a Monday, where he will receive his exam, another CT scan, and a custom molding to help keep his head in place during the treatment.

2. Tuesday: the team comes up with the proper dosing, machine calibration and prepares for treatment.

3. Wednesday-Friday he receives treatment. And hopefully we can go back home Friday or Saturday.

The total for Kaleos treatment comes to around $11,000 (depending on some variables the days of treatment).

If you donate to Kaleo, we will forever be incredibly thankful! Any little bit helps!

And will know spending more time together as a family, is because of you.

A little more about Kaleo and why we love him.

Kaleo and Fiona are biological brother and sister. We rescued them from a shelter, which rescued them from the hoarders home they were born into.

They moved with us to Arizona, and Utah. And loved going on roadtrips with us to visit family in California. Always up for purposely irritating the family dog.

Kaleo, I’ve always insisted is a dog at heart. Will beg you for a piece of your hot dog or bacon. And him and Fiona will double team any trouble that walks up to our front door like a good pair of guard dogs. Kaleo is goofy, and incredibly affectionate. He insists he is still a normal cat. Though to be honest we feel a bit like he’s now special needs with how much balance he’s lost. We’ve built him a ramp to get on the bed. But as many chairs, boxes, stairs, pillows or ottomans I put to try to help him jump off from the back of the couch, he absolutely INSISTS on (attempting) to fly across the couch when his food comes out. This usually doesn’t bode well for him and I’ve had many a tears over worrying he’ll hurt himself.

His personality has changed a little since he’s developed this tumor. However we can tell our boy is still in there. His sheer will to be normal sure shows us. And every once in awhile we will hear a hoarse little chirp come from him when we get his dinner.