Hello the internet! It's me, again! I am not stoked to be running another GoFundMe in the same calendar year. I hate needing help. I guess everyone hates needing help. But I sure do need it.

I am Brooke, a disabled involuntarily-retired pharmacist. I use a wheelchair and I have a migraine 24/7, which is unfortunately not an exaggeration, it's just my life. I have two wonderful elderly void cats. I had a full-time job when I got them, but now I am on welfare, and welfare absolutely does not care if you have pets, that's a you problem.

Ladybug (fluff cloud in front) and Sammy (question-mark tail)

So it's been about five years since they've been to the vet. I feel ashamed about that, it's not the kind of pet parent I want to be, or the kind I would be if I could still work. But they've been pretty healthy, and when the choice is "take a healthy cat to the vet just in case" or "buy food to feed your human child," the vet doesn't win. Grocery prices have not helped with this brutal calculation. But I do currently have about $500 in my vet just-in-case fund, because of the aforementioned gofundme back in January. Or I did until Tuesday.

Ladybug, trying to get the camera to pet her.

Ladybug is a sweet girl with absolutely no thoughts, only love. She runs toward the sound of vacuum cleaners because people running a vacuum cleaner have HANDS that could PET LADYBUG.

Sammy, two full hours after the vacuuming stopped.

(Sammy is slightly smarter, although not by much, and more sensibly hides from Scary Noise What If The Apocalypse.)

Lately she's been taking idle swipes at Sam, though, or batting my son's hand away if he pets Sam instead of Ladybug.

"Ha ha," I thought, "I guess she's cranky in her old age."

Seanan: "Yeahhhh or her teeth are hurting her maybe?"

SPOILER: SEANAN WAS RIGHT.

I decided it was time to take both kitties in to the vet instead of saving that money for an obvious emergency, and somewhat naively thought "I bet $500 will cover both exams and maybe one cat of dental work." Reader, it did not. They were very kind and I did not need to be swallowed up by the earth when I admitted how long it had been since I could afford a vet. But being understanding in this situation has mostly involved them being very apologetic when telling me how much it would cost to fix the problems Ladybug has that are causing her pain, and it's more money than I have or could save up if I had ten years to do it in. And I don't: she is in pain right now, today.

What problems? At least one huge cavity and one partly resorbed tooth. (Apparently cats just absorb their own teeth sometimes?! A fully-resorbed tooth is not always a problem, but a partly-resorbed tooth is a constant gaping wound in your gums. NATURE GO HOME YOU'RE DRUNK.) There might be more problems that are still in the needs-an-X-Ray-to-see-em stage, but she definitely, definitely needs dental surgery. Meanwhile, she has a heart murmur. This surprised the hell out of me, because Sammy has a heart murmur and, I don't know, I thought maybe you were only allowed one per household? But this means before she can get dental work, she needs an echocardiogram to find out if anaesthesia is safe, or possible, or needs to be modified, or what.

TL;DR: I am broke as hell, my sweet elderly cat needs a dentist and holy shit that is expensive.

Ladybug, being a circle

What is the money for?

If we raise $725: I ALREADY SPENT THIS MONEY TIER

- I can pay for the stuff that already happened, which is currently on a credit card just kind of staring at me grimly. Exams for both cats, labwork for Sam, meds so Sam would permit labwork. (I have delayed labwork for Ladybug until I know I will be able to pay for dental work, because it needs to be within a certain time period before surgery, and I don't know how long it's going to take to find the money.)

If we raise $2500: FIND OUT IF WE CAN DRUG MY CAT TIER

- This will cover labwork + an echocardiogram to determine how to anesthetize Ladybug safely. It miiiiight be slightly cheaper if they can do it without sedation. She is a very chill cat, but honestly they might need to sedate her just so she will stop trying to get the ultrasound to pet her. Holding still when HANDS THAT COULD PET LADYBUG are visible is not a strength. So I'm betting on the higher number.

If we raise: $5000: BASIC DENTAL SURGERY LADYBUG STOPS BEING IN PAIN TIER

- I can get the dental work done if all she needs is what is visually apparent in her mouth. This is a bit of a gamble, because if they get in there and the X-Rays show more damage, it's gonna cost more.

If we raise $7000: OOPS THE X-RAYS REVEALED MORE CAVITIES WHICH HONESTLY IS PRETTY LIKELY TIER

- This covers the higher end of the dental estimate they gave me, for if the X-Rays show Moar Tooth Crimes that they need to fix, or worse, if they find extensive problems and need to stop and call in the dental specialist for a second attempt. I think it is not unlikely that there could be more cavities than just the one so big you can see it by looking in her mouth for five seconds. (There's also an intermediate figure where I could just opt to call in the specialist from the start, saving one round of anesthesia, but he is super, super booked up and she is in pain right now, so I don't want to do that. If there's a good chance the available-soon vet can handle it, that's what I want for her. I really, really hope that's all she needs both because it's faster and cheaper, but trying it that way comes with the financial risk that we needed the fancy expert after all.)

If we raise $9500: COSPLAYING AS A RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER WHO CAN AFFORD PREVENTATIVE CARE TIER

- Dental cleaning for Sam. The vet thinks he could wait a year for this, and he doesn't obviously have any problems other than Gross Cat Mouth / tartar so this should be cheaper than Ladybug's actual dental surgery. Sam also has a heart murmur and would need an echocardiogram, and he 100% will need to be sedated to get that, he is a man with ANXIETY. But the dental part would be cheaper.

If we raise $9535: JUST STRAIGHT-UP A BAD IDEA TIER

- Grocery store sheet cake for me to eat my feelings about not realizing Ladybug was in pain.

This is all Canadian dollars, so if it seems crazy expensive for vet stuff, that might be why. Also trying to bake in about 4% for GoFundMe fees. Full disclosure, there ARE cheaper vets out there - this one is half a block from my house and easy to get to in my wheelchair. The clinic with the best prices is a 1.5 hour drive and with wheelchair taxis back and forth it would honestly be a wash, and I mean that literally because on a 1.5hour drive at least one cat will pee on me.

Ladybug wondering why your hands are not petting Ladybug

I know it's tough all over, and I EXTREMELY UNDERSTAND if you can't afford to contribute. But if it's in your means, I am so grateful for the help. I want my sweet girl to stop hurting.