Stevie Nicks’ medical journey
Donation protected
Many of you have followed the beautiful, tricky, chaotic life of our beautiful rescue cat, Mr. Stevie Nicks (pictured). The cat with nine lives, the outlier, the focal point and centre of our lives and hearts.
Stevie, in May, was diagnosed with PIMA - primary precursor immune-mediated anaemia (also known as IMHA), this was at 7 months old. He presented as having a PCV of 5%. In context, a cat should a PCV (red blood cell level) of 30% - 50%. At his best, Stevie has been at 26%. Primary is very rare in a cat so lots of vets at The Ralph & RVC have had to put their thinking caps on!
Stevie has been on quite the journey since then - having had 9 blood transfusions, one of those being a xenotransfusion (dog blood). We have had roadblocks along the way with the government stopping cat blood from coming in outside of the UK. Whilst these transfusions & hospital stays have been life-saving (and also ethical for Stevie), they are short-term fixes all the while medications kick in. He has been on prednisolone, chlorambocil & Atopica. However, recently, his body has rejected the chlorambocil (chemo) and his white blood cell count is now presenting as low, possibly indicating an infection (as he is immune compromised) or cancer (lymphoma).
Stevie is only one year old - he is an absolute fighter and deserves every fighting chance. PIMA is treatable, it is just that Stevie is a very tricky case. Until we are told otherwise by the relevant medical professionals, we will keep fighting alongside him.
As you can imagine (& it is the worst thing to talk about) all of these efforts to keep Stevie happy & healthy as a one year old has not been and will not continue to be cheap. To put it into perspective, Stevie’s care exhausted his insurance over two months ago. Of our own money we have now spent £22,000+. You cannot put a price on love ever but it is becoming increasingly difficult. This is why we have been suggested to set up this gofundme page. Absolutely every little helps so anything you are willing to do to help would mean the absolute world. Whether it be £1. Similarly please do not feel pressured.
None of this money lines our pockets. It will go directly to The Ralph where Stevie continues to receive his urgent care and any further transfusions and tests while we find this cause and treat it to beat it.
Thank you all!
AK Phillips & Andrea Phillips
TO DONATE: please send to or on your PayPal, send to @stevienicksak
Organizer
AK Phillips
Organizer
