Raylan’s been fostering and saving orphaned kittens for more than a decade, and now he needs some help.

Raylan had a small growth removed from his lip at the end of October that unfortunately came back as melanoma - a type of aggressive cancer. Thankfully, he had a full-body CT scan that has since shown no evidence of metastasis. He’s now scheduled for a surgery in late November to get wider margins to try to remove the remaining cancer. He’s also been started on the melanoma vaccine - a treatment to teach his body to kill melanoma cells and stop further spread - which is the best and most up-to-date treatment for his form of cancer. He’ll need this injection every 2 weeks to start, then will decrease in frequency in a couple months. This is NOT chemotherapy - there are no negative side effects for Raylan. In fact, Raylan doesn’t feel sick at all: he’s his normal goofy, happy, energetic self. Raylan has a great quality of life and the plan is to keep that exactly the same.

Raylan has an amazing Surgery and Oncology team and with this treatment he has a very good prognosis - in fact, because we caught it so early and started cutting-edge treatment so quickly, it’s possible this may never become a life-threatening issue in the future. (This is a good reminder to please get all new lumps and growths on your dogs checked out when they’re still small!)

However, the best medical care comes at a (understandably) high cost. Each injection costs more than $800, on top of the scans and surgeries and lab work. Unfortunately my pet insurance has greatly decreased what they’ll cover due to us using it so much in the past (reminder that I do not recommend OVMA Pet Insurance). So I’m reaching out to see if any of Raylan’s fans want to contribute to his care. Any small donation helps! And if you can’t donate, then well-wishes and positive thoughts are also appreciated :)

Raylan (and his kittens) say thanks!

Note: any donations that exceed what’s needed for vet care (wishful thinking) will go towards Raylan’s general care and care of future foster kittens (those little guys add up!). Thank you!