This is my beautiful girl Tonks. She's a cheeky, cuddly, happy, six year old rescue cat, who is usually full of life and energy. Tonks loves nothing more than to snuggle up in my lap and explore the world around her. This summer she discovered cuddling in my hammock, as you can see in the photos!

In mid September Tonks went from being very healthy, to very, very suddenly and rapidly losing a lot of weight, and developing a noticeably enlarged, distended abdomen, as well as becoming completely lethargic and disinterested in any of the things she normally enjoys. It was terrifying watching her body change so dramatically and so quickly. I got her straight to the vet to get checked out.

That first vet trip was a harrowing experience for us. The vet had to get her thoroughly checked out, and she was given anaesthetic to allow a thorough check of her abdomen and get ultrasound images to find our what was going on. After several hours of checks tests, and phone calls to a regional specialist vet, the potential diagnosis was quite devastating. She was in a life threatening state.

We were referred up to the regional specialist in Bristol (approximately 2 hours away from where we live) with an appointment for four days later.

Getting her through those four days involved daily emergency vet trips to keep her hydrated with fluid injections, anti sickness medication, and some additional checks, tests and life saving care.

My poor girl was just not at all herself. She was barely moving barely eating and wouldn't come for cuddles, or even her favourite treats. It was heartbreaking to see.

On the day of our vet specialist appointment, we packed up the car, and settled Tonks in her carrier (which she usually hates!! So seeing her just accept it was worrying in itself. She was too weak to make her usual protest meows), and we got her to her appointment.

After an initial consult Tonks was hospitalised to undergo investigations to find out what was wrong and to hopefully begin treatment. I was so scared that it might be the last time that I saw her. I gave her a huge cuddle and said a heartbreaking goodbye.

We received a call from the vets in the early evening that day. They had found that she had a really horrendous infection that had turned her abdomen septic, and was the cause of the distention through fluid build up related to the sepsis. My poor girl needed emergency surgery to clear out all the nasty build up and check for the root cause of the infection.

My beautiful girl went in for surgery and they did everything they could.

The surgery was successful and she was put on antibiotics to treat any remaining infection in her body. Over the next few days we were told that she was a true fighter and was making an incredible recovery. I was so so so relieved! But they couldn't be sure what had caused the infection, as there had been no signs when the surgeon looked. A mystery, but we focused on her being better and hoped that some of the additional tests would shed some light on that later.

We were able to take Tonks home an incredible 4 days after surgery, and I was incredibly relieved that she was healthy enough for this. Though she had a long road of healing ahead of her, we were on the right track! We packed the car back up and made the journey home grateful to have her safe and ready to continue her healing journey.

.... oh if only it had been that simple ....

Unfortunately, poor Miss Tonks' ordeal wasnt done yet.

The day after we returned home, I spoke to the vet to check in, as the little lady was a much more muted version of her usual self, and I was worried that her behaviour was a bad sign. We agreed to keep a close eye on her, but weren't sure there was any need to be overly concerned, as she was still healing from a very major surgery.

The next day, however, that changed.

An unpleasant complication became evident when the poor little one's skin ruptured near the surgical wound site and liquid came pouring out.

Back to the out of hours emergency vet we went that Sunday afternoon, and I was on the phone to the specialist alongside. We were given an appointment to get her back in to the Bristol specialist the next day, and the local emergency vet did what they could to dress and clean the new wound.

Another worryingly complaint-free 2 hour car journey later and Tonks was readmitted to the vet hospital for 5 days to manage the next part of her ordeal.

The vet staff were fantastic, and it was lovely to be greeted by one of the care staff (who had spent time with Tonks the previous week) who just wanted to say hello and see Tonks. She had been a very popular, friendly, cuddly girl!

During this hospital stay the team got her sorted out, both wounds were checked and looked after, and some additional antibiotics were prescribed when the results came back that one of the bacteria in the abdomen was not being targeted by the current one. We were kept regularly updated, and were glad to hear things were improving.

After her second hospital stay, she has returned home, and we have been making the pilgrimage to our local vet every two days to check that everything is healing up fine. She had finished her course of antibiotics and is thoroughly on the mend, thank goodness! She is gradually putting back on the weight that she lost, and the wounds are slowly healing. She is starting to show her usual funny, cuddly, explorer personality again, and I am so incredibly grateful that she is showing signs that she will be well again.

All of the vet staff, local and at the regional specialist, have been incredible and I can't thank everyone enough for getting my girl safely through!

But, sadly the vet costs have mounted up rather quickly over the course of a few weeks.

Tonks is insured, however, her insurance will only cover a maximum of around half of the currently estimated cost of £16,000 for everything she has been through.

The purpose of this page is that I am desperately hoping that the kindness of other cat lovers will help me to pay the remaining balance for the life saving care that my girl desperately needed. I will be eternally grateful for any and all donations large or small. Please help me look after my little lady.

Thank you.