Support Tuna's Journey to a Happy Life

Many of you have been following the saga of trying to get my dear Tuna to London. I have received an outpouring of support and advice, and I am so grateful for everyone who has reached out.

For those who are not familiar, here's the deal:

I have a cat called Tuna.

I live alone (kind of unexpectedly) and I frequently have to travel for work, and increasingly for unavoidable family duties. I can't afford to hire cat sitters anymore. And I don't feel comfortable asking people to sublet from me at a reduced price and to look after her because Tuna is... spicy.

She's not a bad cat, really. She is just extremely anxious and will murderously stalk people for months on end until she gets used to them. I feel for the cat sitters, certainly. But mainly I feel for her because it's indicative of her being really unhappy. It's been really upsetting to witness her become so destabilized every time I go away, and someone comes to care for her. I've considered moving in with roommates since I really need to recover financially from a bunch of life changes, but I don't feel good about moving her in with yet more people.

She's the sweetest cat ever with me and is very attached. She loves me with a passion that I can never expect from any other living being (...really).

I've tried every workaround. I've offered her for adoption within my community (even though it broke my heart every time). And have received responses like 'I value my mental health too much' and 'never' amongst other rejections. I've considered taking her to a no-kill shelter, but I can't imagine her being adopted with any expediency alongside the less hissy animals, and she would be miserable in that kind of environment. I just can't bring myself to do it.

Humor aside, she deserves a stable and lovely life with a garden and permanent company. I love my murderous cat, and losing her would be incredibly painful.

So I decided that the best option is to get her to London to live with my family, run around in the garden, and have a permanent loving home. It is, however, extremely expensive to fly a cat to London. I have found a way to save money which involves a complicated route: fly from New York to Paris, then Paris to Calais on the train, and then a pet-friendly car service to London. The vet appointments have been very expensive, as has acquiring the right documents to get her through borders, and then a plane ticket and travel ongoing from there.

I'm looking for help to pay for some of these things.

Her vet appointment, including the International Health Certificate, is going to cost $1420.

The flight (Tuna fee included) is $719.

The pet transport from France to London is $808, including the fee for the Eurotunnel.

I've not included the price for getting her microchipped and her rabies shot, etc.

So we are at around $2947.

I've been reticent to ask for financial help because there are many causes currently that deserve our attention and our funding. But I decided to bite the bullet and ask. I'm not expecting to fundraise the whole sum, but every little helps, and I'm so grateful for any contribution.

Thank you so, so much!