IN LOVING MEMORY OF SUMMER

I am doing fundraising in support of my cat Summer’s medical bills and funeral expenses. Summer had a liver cancer, kidney failure and anemia.

Story: Summer was a street cat who lived in the town of Fairfield, California. A kind elderly lady was feeding her for a while. Summer was not doing well on the street, and the lady decided to take her home and place her in the future for adoption. Summer stayed with her foster mother for 2 months, she was examined by a local vet, spayed and vaccinated. In two months, Summer’s picture was placed online on one of local adoption web-sites where I found her in February of 2020.

At the beginning of 2020 I lost my own cat Sunny. He looked exactly like Summer, the same coloration and even the same orange spots on the front paws. People who saw a picture of my previous cat Sunny thought that Summer and Sunny were the same cat. This is how similar they looked. It was so devastating losing my Sunny that I cried every day for 2 months and thought that I will not adopt another cat for a while.

Cat Sunny

One day I decided to look at adoption web-sites and the first search showed me a picture of Summer. In the picture, Summer looked exactly like Sunny. This picture immediately changed my mind and I decided that I want to adopt her.

On March 7, 2020 I took a trip to Petco in Vallejo, California, where Summer was brought for adoption. The trip took 5 hours one way. I had to take a train, a subway, a ferry and a bus to get to the adoption place. Even though there were plenty of different kitties, I was interested only in Summer. Summer was having a cough and came with a cough medication but my mind was made up and it did not stop me from taking her home.

During the next month Summer’s cough did not go away even though a vet tried different medications, and Summer was diagnosed with asthma and prescribed an everyday inhaler. Even though Summer always had medical insurance, the insurance considered her asthma as a pre-existing condition and did not pay for her inhaler, therefore, I had to buy her inhaler 4 times per year for $300 each. Summer also was diagnosed with heart murmur but she did not need any medications for that condition as it was not severe.

Starting from a year of 2022 Summer started gradually losing weight, I brought her to the vet for a check up. It turned out that her liver enzymes were elevated. Summer had an ultrasound, but nothing was found, and she was prescribed only liver medications. From the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2025 she had many appointments to the vet regarding her liver and was constantly on medications.

At the beginning of 2025 she unexpectedly was diagnosed with a liver cancer. A tumor was found in one part of the liver and multiple small spots on the liver that the radiologist presumed that these were metastasis. After visiting 2 oncologists, it turned out that there were no options for her to be treated except palliative care. Radiology and operation were not possible because of metastasis and chemotherapy was not effective for a liver cancer. I was told that an average life expectancy for cats with such diagnosis is 2-3 months. As there were no options to treat Summer with medications in the US, I decided to try a medicine that is used in Canada to treat different kinds of cancer for humans and pets called "DCA (Sodium Dichloroacetate)" and a mushroom supplement "Mushroom Immune Gold" to support her Immune System.

After 3 months of treatment Summer had the second ultrasound, and the ultrasound did not find the 3 cm tumor. The small dark spots (most likely metastasis) were still noticed but the big tumor disappeared. Shortly, the third ultrasound was performed and did not find a tumor either. The only conclusion was made that DCA alone or DCA with mushroom supplement together most likely worked.

Another major health problem Summer developed in May of 2025 when she suddenly stopped walking on her front paws. I took her to the urgent care and she was diagnosed with kidney failure. Her kidneys were working only 25%. I was told that she has to be hospitalized otherwise, she will not live long. With a little choice I had, Summer was hospitalized and spent 2 days in the hospital. The cost of 2-day hospitalization was $8000. She left the hospital with IV fluid (intravenous) kit and kidney food.

In a week, after the hospital, Summer was able to walks on all 4 paws again instead of 2 paws as earlier. She did not run around as a young goat, but she managed to walk around all over the apartment and she was constantly treated and supervised by veterinarians. We bought her cat stairs in order for her to get on the couch and she was using them successfully.

When Summer was brought home from the hospital, she had tearing eyes. I brought her again to the vet where it was discovered that she had eye ulcers in both eyes. She was prescribed 7 types of medications for the eyes that I had to give her every day.

During next 3 months, Summer was having IV fluids, kidney food, cancer medication and eye medications every day. Unfortunately, in three months after the hospital, Summer’s kidney failure and anemia reached a deadly level even though she got all possible treatments, and on August 28, 2025 she passed away from kidney failure and anemia. It was very devastating.

On September 4, 2025 Summer was buried in Pets Rest Cemetery in Colma, California in the same place with cat Sunny. The cemetery has a special room (I call it a chapel), nicely decorated, where owners can say goodbye to their beloved pets. All four walls of this room are covered with pictures of the people's late pets.

Good News is that Summer exceeded her life expectations and lived almost 7 months since her cancer was discovered instead of 2-3 months as was expected!

From February to August, 2025 (7 months) Summer's medical bills including funeral expenses reached $24,148.00. Her medical insurance covered only 52% of all expenses (final number). I am asking for a donation of any amount to cover Summer’s medical bills and funeral expenses due to financial hardship. Her medical bills piled up very fast and I do not have such a financial ability to pay all of them in the close future.

Summer behaved 90% like my cat Sunny. The difference is that she was cuddlier and loved humans a lot. Every week I took her for a ride outside in a cat carriage and she liked to look around. Sometimes she rode in the carriage with a carriage top opened. People who were passing by asked me "Doesn't she jump down from the carriage?" and I said "No". They usually replied: "My cat would never do that."

Everyday she came to the couch to watch TV with me in the evening. It's more accurate to say, I was watching TV and she was sleeping next to me. This was her tradition. Usually she was on time by 8:30 pm sitting on the couch. Once she traveled on an Amtrak train to Chico, CA on vacation and did not make any nose in the carriage on the train. She was a very sweet cat. I was so happy to have her in my life.

Summer is deeply missed by us.

The donation can be done via:

Summer with her adopted brother Camino

Thank you for reading.

Tatiana, Summer's Owner

Santa Clara, California