Squim's Vet Bill

Mars Manson is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Dustin Baucom.

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Hello everyone! Thank you to MarsManson + friends for setting this fundraiser up. My name is Ty, and this is my cat Squim. In November of 2016 I drove 3 hours across my state to adopt him from a backwoods animal shelter when I saw his picture online. He became my constant companion in a time where I had moved to a town after a hard breakup and had no friends. He was the first thing I thought about in the morning, and the last before I went to bed. I loved him very dearly. He got that name accidentally because he couldn't really meow, only tiny skweeem noises, and he eventually became Squim. Squimbo, Squimbalina, Squimbus 2000, Skim, Skim Milk, Skim Latte, Skim Skimminy, etc.

On Saturday, June 13th Squim started getting sick. I've attached a picture below of all the symptoms I documented for when I took him to the vet on Tuesday the 16th.

Upon arrival, the vet felt it necessary to perform emergency exploratory surgery on Squim for an intestinal blockage. I've attached her report of his visit. All information redacted below is to protect my personal name/address and the vet name/address. This is to protect my location, I hope you can understand <3

He left surgery around 8pm that night and because that specific vet was not open overnight and we both felt it necessary for him to be monitored post-surgery. We transferred him to an overnight vet about 15 minutes away. My sister drove me while I carried him in the passenger seat.

I've attached pictures below of the vet bill for the 2nd vet office, as well as their progress reports for the 3 days they had him in their care. We were fighting a fever with him, and trying to get him to eat.

All seemed to be well after his fever broke, and they released him to my care Friday the 19th. I picked him up around 3pm, and we were home by around 4pm. I was very happy to have Squim back in our room together. He seemed a little tired, but mostly himself. He immediately went to eat food and started purring and wanted to cuddle.

Around 5pm I got on the bed to play Animal Crossing next to him while I hoped he would rest and sleep a little bit. He looked very cute and crossed his paws to sit pretty in his normal manner. I took a picture and before I could even lower the phone, his head rolled back and he fell sideways. He breathed weird for a few minutes, and was gone. My sister drove and we rushed back to the vet, but he was gone. It was so sudden.

The vets don't really know what happened, and I didn't want to send him away for an autopsy. I just wanted to bring him home and bury him amongst the flowers. The vets mentioned something could have ruptured, or it could have been a clot.

I'm grateful I could spend his last hour giving him some normalcy.

I loved Squim so much, and I did everything I could to try to save him. I wish I could have succeeded. I hope he's resting peacefully.

I received this reply from the vet who performed the surgery when I emailed her to let her know what happened. I am so grateful for her warmth and compassion. I truly feel she was a guardian angel in a very dark trial.

We buried Squim in my yard, high up on a forest covered mountain top of Western North Carolina. I covered the grave with painted rocks, and a cat statue thats been in our front garden for years.

My mom helped me plant a small tree behind his grave today that blooms with bright orange flowers. We also added a solar powered lantern that lights up at night.