This is Binx. Binx was adopted from the Montgomery County ASPCA in Pennsylvania in the summer of 2019, an adult who had been up for adoption a little longer than most.

Binx has some terrible oral decay and needs vet care and dental surgery as soon as possible.

We took my mother-in-law to the ASPCA that summer before COVID hit, looking for a small dog as an emotional support, as she lived alone and had lost several family members recently. We didn't find a dog that quite met her needs, but I suggested we stop and look at the cats.

She fell in love with Binx. He's a sweetheart who loves to sit on your lap, beg for food, and has spent every night until the end of April on her bed.

Mom's life hasn't been easy of late. Her fiance has early onset dementia, heart failure, diabetes, and recently, unexplained seizures. She's spent the last few years managing the disaster of her fiance's health and finances. He's been in and out of hospitals, rehabs, and now is in a nursing home, which takes all of his social security, leaving her to pay all the bills. Her apartment complex keeps raising her rent and implementing new fees. She now is forced to move.

She asked us to take Binx and his sister Lulu, because she's been unable to find a pet-friendly rental she can afford. We'd always said if she ever needed us to, we would take them in so she didn't need to worry about their safety. On April 29th, we drove over an hour from our home to her apartment to pick up the cats, and brought them home. They're staying in my husband's office as they acclimatize to the move and as our resident pets acclimatize to them.

Within a day we noticed something was wrong with Binx's mouth. Lulu is quite overweight (and now on a diet) but I was surprised Binx’s weight was reasonable, and he'd seemed to have lost a little since the last time I'd seen him, despite being a few years older than Lulu and generally less energetic. I will post photos of what we found that explains why he is not overweight as well–he cannot comfortably eat the dry food he has always been provided.

I'm experienced with cats and work the front desk at a veterinary hospital. I have no doubt he is in desperate need of a dental cleaning and the extraction of several teeth. The pictures speak for themselves. He must be in terrible pain.

My work means I am well aware what the costs for this care will be. He needs a minimum of $500 spent right out of the gate for an exam, vaccines, possibly antibiotics, pain meds, x-rays and bloodwork to make sure he's healthy enough for anesthesia. After that we're staring down $1500-2000+ for his mouth. Even with my employee discount, this is going to be expensive.

We can't afford to absorb this much of a financial hit. We have an autistic 14yr old and autistic 4yr old. My husband just had 2 root canals, and has likely extensive dental work scheduled for September. We're preparing for our sewer connection to need replacing within the next year. That will require a loan, when we're still paying off the credit card debt from replacing our well pump and water line to the house last year. In March, I had to reduce my hours at work to address the needs of our kids. We just had to replace our washing machine. Our water heater is elderly. Our furnace is older. I already buy most of our clothes and shoes second hand. Our car needs new tires and maintenance in the next month.

Binx needs help, and we need help to pay for it. He's around 12 years old, and all the rescues near us are full, even if we were willing to let him go. We fear he'll just be euthanized by the shelter because of his age and medical needs if we surrender him.

Cats do great with missing teeth. I see it every day at work. They can thrive and live to old age. Binx is a chill and loving dude who we have no doubt will respond well if he gets medical care soon. He has many years left. He's already asking for attention in his new home, and is excited when I bring him his wet food. He's even learning to like my little girl's attention.

All funds will be used for veterinary care for Binx, and if everything goes smoothly and the costs are not quite as high, any extra will go toward Lulu's care. I will schedule the first exam when we've raised $800.

We're so grateful for any help. We try really hard not to ask for help. We're really lucky, but this time we just can't responsibly make our budget stretch far enough.

Thank you so much for any amount and any signal boosts.