**Update Septemter 19, 2025** Sidhe has recently been diagnosed with high blood calcium levels. In order to determine the root cause (cancer, or idiopathic) she needs additional testing. We're down to about $200 in the vet fund that you have given us. If you can help or share, we would deeply appreciate anything you can do.

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I don't even know how to tell this story.

The last year has not been kind to our family. It has been a seemingly unending series of crises, much more than I can get into here. For now I'm just going to focus on our cats, whom you may know from our button communication videos on YouTube and Instagram.

In January 2024, we purchased health insurance for both cats (Fog, 7 years old, and Sidhe, 12 years old) from Pumpkin Pet Insurance. We chose them because they seemed to have the most comprehensive coverage, giving us options should our girls need expensive treatments in the future. The policy maximums were $15,000 for each cat, per year -- so we believed that we would be in a good position to say yes to whatever future care they needed.

In May, Sidhe was diagnosed with early-stage chronic kidney disease.

In October, we made a good faith request for a claim review. Sidhe had developed an ear infection in September, but because we can't ask her where it hurts, we couldn't know at the time of her exam if ear pain was her only problem. Her vet also considered dental, neurological, or other pain as possibilities, but treated for infections in her ear and otherwise. We could only know what her diagnosis was by whether her treatment worked. Her insurance plan wouldn't cover dental problems, but would cover an ear infection, so we requested that her denied claims be reviewed in light of finally knowing that she wasn't suffering from dental pain.

On November 1st, Pumpkin Pet Insurance retaliated by declaring her kidney disease a pre-existing condition. We requested a second tier appeal to be reviewed by a licensed veterinarian; we included a written statement from Sidhe's examining vet that the insurance company's interpretation of her prior lab results are incorrect.

The day before Thanksgiving, 3pm: Second appeal denied, and Pumpkin Pet Insurance retaliates by decreeing all ear infections a pre-existing condition too, even though Sidhe has never had an ear infection prior to this. They blame her ear infection on her chicken allergy -- but she has had a chicken allergy all her life, and has only ever had the one ear infection.

After Thanksgiving, we discuss with her vet, and they reach out on our behalf to request a vet-to-vet consult. The insurance company responds the same day, saying "No, we don't do that."

As far as we can tell, a licensed veterinarian from Pumpkin never reviewed Sidhe's case; the denial letters were signed "Claim Appeals Department" and no one with DVM, VMD, or DABVP after their name ever communicated with us. It may be that Pumpkin Pet Insurance doesn't even have a veterinarian on staff. By the end, Pumpkin was even resorting to lying about material facts to "support" their conclusions. We realized that if they would do this to Sidhe, it was extremely likely they would also do it to Fog, should she ever need expensive treatment in the future. The coverage that we have paid for was worthless.

We talked to our state Department of Insurance, who confirmed that pet insurance is considered "property insurance," allowing for no nuance regarding medical knowledge or judgment -- nor could they prevent Pumpkin from just dropping us altogether if we became too much of a bother. We even contacted several attorneys, but no one was willing to take our case.

We can't take Sidhe to another insurance company, because now that she has a kidney disease diagnosis, it's an uncovered pre-existing condition wherever we could go. With two job losses and $7000 of surprise human medical expenses in the past year, the pet insurance WAS our backup plan. We are currently living on savings, and Sidhe will need ongoing monitoring and care to remain healthy, and as of January 2025 her appetite still hasn't fully stabilized. Pet insurance should have covered her vet visits, lab tests, medications, and renal food and supplements. Instead it's covering nothing.

We have started this campaign to help us with veterinary costs while we continue to look for work. If you are able to give, we'd be deeply grateful. If you can't, sharing our campaign would also be incredibly helpful. We appreciate whatever help you can give.

Current and expected costs for 2025:

Fog's vet visit & labs, from Dec 2024: $304

Fog's Revolution preventative: $220

Wellness exams + senior cat labs: $730

Mirataz, appetite stimulant for Sidhe: $140

Porus One (a supplement that allows us to feed non-renal food when her appetite is low): $440

Sidhe's renal food: $360

Sidhe's renal labs (2-4 times per year): $1170

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total $3364

Plus something for emergencies, as both cats are considered senior now. It's likely Fog will need some dental care this year.