Kaly has been a part of our family for almost a year and we recently discovered she has Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP.) Almost two years ago, I was asked to foster an Oriental Siamese (and possibly her sister) with All About Animals Rescue. I showed up and found the second sister was already spoken for, so I took home Sirena and fell in love. We bonded quickly and I adopted her. Soon after, she began to have an odd medical issue and apparently so did her sister. The sisters were reunited at a veterinarian appointment and I was able to meet Kaly’s Mom. We kept in touch. However Kaly was eventually surrendered back to the rescue and I immediately took her in as a foster. By this time, we had taken another medically needy cat in, Lemon. So the kitties’ dynamic was very challenging at first, even for the sisters themselves. I wasn’t sure if Kaly would fit in, but eventually we saw her find comfort from her sister and the fights ceased.

Fast forward to 4 months ago and we began to encounter numerous medical issues for Kaly. She began to act less interested in her food and started having bloody diarrhea. The rescue supported her and me through this illness but it got worse. Kaly would go to be seen by four different veterinarians, have bloodwork, multiple x-rays, an ultrasound, and then an exploratory surgery where the vet recovered fleece blanket from her stomach! Yet Kaly lost more weight to an already small frame and didn’t seem to recover fully. Dawn, with the rescue, kept pointing to her suspicions that Kaly was positive for FIP and that treatment to save her life was the next step. Once Kaly’s records were reviewed by experts on the matter, it was confirmed. My worst fear that this horrible disease would show up again in my cats.

Many years ago when I first began working at the Arizona Humane Society, my two twin ragdoll Siamese boys began to get sick. One was more sick than the other and I was able to schedule an appointment with a veterinarian there that I trusted for an evaluation. She was very frank with me about the fact that one of my boys was suffering from wet FIP and what that would mean for his twin, who was sick but with a more mild case. There was no treatment back then and I had to euthanize both of them. One immediately and the other, months afterwards. It crushed me. But now there is an experimental treatment available that effectively cures some cats from this disease.

This is where I am asking for help. Kaly is essentially mine and I have managed to get her this far with all of her medical needs. But the FIP treatment is still experimental and therefore incredibly expensive. The treatment plan would require the medication, the bloodwork every four weeks for monitoring purposes, and further supportive care for almost six months or possibly longer depending on her reaction to the treatment. The cost of this care begins at approximately $2000, but can be more expensive if she requires further treatment.

As some of you may know, I left my former career as an Animal Cruelty Investigator and Emergency Animal Medical Technician with the Arizona Humane Society back in October 2019. The compassion fatigue had caught up with me after almost 23 years of service to the animals and people of this community. The long hours and extra days began to add up against my quality of life and after having my son, Cristian, I had to do what was best for everyone. So I have been home with him since then, and I am grateful for every moment. Although it has not been what I’m sure anyone expected, being that we have the pandemic and currently a war going on. But I am now at a financial disadvantage to incur a medical treatment cost, such as this and I am asking for help. My birthday is on March 22 and while there have not been celebrations for me in awhile, I would cherish the gift of helping me with this medical treatment. So I am asking my friends and family, near and far, if you could please help us to treat our “beautiful little sister” Kaly, so that she and Sirena can spend many more years together with our family.

In gratitude,

Tami