Support for Garage Kitty: Help Get Him All His Vet Needs

Hello! June of 2023, this stray cat started appearing in the attic of my garage. I began always leaving hard cat food and water for him and he has never really left. I posted about him and no one that lives in my area knew who he could belong to. I eventually began feeding him wet food daily and gaining his trust. In the cold winter months, he has a heated water dish so his water does not freeze and an electric blanket and dog bed to sleep on but he likes to sleep curled up in the insulation above our breezeway. Summer of 2024- one year later- I was actually able to touch his head but that has been it. He will slink past me to exit my garage into the breezeway and go outside. Just within the past 2 weeks, he has come right up to me when I pop his can of food open and he let's me pat him and scratch his head! He also allowed me to apply topical flea/tick/ear mites treatment and since then the backs of his ears look so much better. Since I have finally been able to touch him, I can feel how thin he is under his fur and how matted his fur is and all the little scars he has likely from fleas and ticks and scratching and/or fighting. I bet my recent pets were the first feelings of love he has had in a very long time from a human. I could very easily scoop him up and bring him to the shelter at this point but it has taken me this long to earn his trust and I don't think that he will acclimate well to that life. My goal is to scoop him up and put him in a carrier and bring him to my wonderful vet and get him fixed, get a rabies vaccine, get those mats taken care of and bloodwork. And any other needed treatment. We agree it might be a one time shot since I might break Garage Kitty's trust for a bit by doing this but it is for the best and he will feel so much better. After, I will return him back to the garage where he has food, water, shelter and freedom. I have made an appointment to bring him in for July 1st. The only time I can usually be sure to see him is if I go into the garage attic fairly early in the morning to feed him, otherwise he is not always there.

With all of this being said, I am asking for some help financially with this. I normally would never do something like this but in order to make sure he gets everything he needs, we have to do it in one visit and he obviously needs a lot! Thankfully, his eyes have always looked healthy so that's not an issue! I have attached the estimate I have recieved from the vet. I added an extra $100 to my goal because there are a couple items that aren't on this estimate that I am thinking he will need such as dewormer and I want him to get the three-month topical flea/tick treatment (especially because if I break his trust and he won't let me touch him then at least he will be protected for three months). I know that I have some Garage Kitty fans that look forward to his updates on facebook so any help would be appreciated. And if you can't help, just share! My own three cats and two dogs always get all the care they need at the vet and are always up to date on all of their vaccines and flea/tick treatment. You all know I would take in more if I could afford to take care of them all! I have just about 6 weeks to reach this goal. I will be saving bottles and thinking of other ways to set aside extra funds specifically for this because just like everyone else, we live on a budget and this is not something we can afford to do on our own. Again, any help is appreciated!