UPDATE 12/6/25: Spook's fever spiked again last week so he's been given another antibiotic. Essentially, he will need mandibular surgery if he is going to survive. It's not cheap. We can't do it alone. And if he wasn't so so special to us already, we wouldn't ask. But he adores us and we adore him. We won't know exactly what's going on until imaging but that would be all in the same day as any procedure, as kitten anesthesia is tricky. We need to have the necrotic bone removed. If the images come back and something is worse, then of course we have to make that call.

This is Spooky. We brought him home Nov 2 from the barn where he was born because he clearly had issues and wasn’t hearty like his littermates. He weighed 13 oz (after getting a full belly) despite being old enough to have all his kitten teeth. He has teeth, but is missing a good deal of gum tissue, and his jawbone is exposed inside his mouth. This made hard food incredibly difficult and painful to eat.

He’s spent the time with us on a couple antibiotics and pain management, and has put on another pound of weight in the first 2 weeks we had him. He is playful, rambunctious, has a hearty appetite, and absolutely loves people. He’s a huge purr monster and snuggle buddy. We love him.

But, at the end of the day, he has exposed bone. His two baby molars on the bottom have fallen out/broken off due to lack of gum tissue. At his most recent checkup (11/21) he was bright and active, but he has a fever and his bloodwork came back very poor. He is clear from Feline leukemia and FID, but his white blood cells are sky high (after all those antibiotics, up to the day of visit) and his red blood cells are quite low. He is starting a new antibiotic now, compounded for his size.

He’s an enigma as to what caused his dental problems: he doesn’t fit neatly into a box for calicivirus or electrocution (cord chewing) or even some other issues. We’re hoping he can become old enough to address the problem of exposed bone; he’s too small and young still.

Right now, we are trying to give him quality of life and a CHANCE at life. Our 5 year old daughter adores him. We adore him. He has made our adult cat nicer to people, and they play together. We have zero issues taking care of an animal with special needs for food, medicine, and monitoring. But we are humbly asking for help to pay for his medical bills while we try to fix him. His little life is so precious.