Draven's Angels
Draven lost his fight with cancer on July 11th, 2015... I am only asking now, for help with the debt we incurred trying to save him... We spent over 3 times what I am asking for... I just would like to be close to the financial stability we had before all this began... Anything extra will go to other cats with cancer... Please continue reading so you will know Draven's story...
Draven is less than a year and a half old and has cancer! He is a maine coon, indoor only, fixed cat. Here is his story, so far...
Draven found us in October of last year. He was outside in the cold pouring rain, crying out for anyone to help while he was hiding under a neighbors car. I shined my phone's flashlight around and the second it hit his eyes, he came running across the street to me. I picked him up and he was shivering, I handed him to Necee and went in for a towel. I wrapped him up, took him into the house and dried him off. I set him up in our spare bedroom with food, water, dry towels and blankets, a cat box and he thanked me for the next several hours with constant love via headbutts, purring, rubbing all over me ( especially my face ) and refusing to leave my side! I had every intention of finding him a home or turning him over to a rescue but, I thought I would wait a few days to see if any missing posters showed up around the neighborhood. A week went by and no posters. I found it odd because he was well fed and seemed to have belonged to someone, although he was flea infested and his whiskers had been cut. I fell in love with him that first night but was afraid my husband, Jarrod, who has never really liked cats, would not let me keep him. Well, Draven worked his magic and melted Jarrod's heart. Jarrod and Draven are the best of buds now.
He has become more than a cat or a pet to us. For me, someone who suffers from depression, ptsd, anxiety, Lupus, and more, he has become my companion, my therapy, and my source of joy! For Jarrod, he has opened up a part of his heart that he didn't even know existed. I can not imagine living without him.
He has been diagnosed with mediastinal lymphoma cancer, and is going to need chemotherapy to get through this. His lymphoma has developed in his thymus gland, located in his chest, and has caused his heart to be pushed all the way to the right, as well as pushing against his lungs, making breathing difficult, and pushing against his esophagus. We have already spent over $2500 just to get to this point of having answers and choices of treatment plans.
Just like cancer in humans, treatment is expensive. I am asking for your help to save our family member.
Draven is no ordinary, everyday, run of the mill cat! He has a personality that wins over everyone who meets him! He has no reservations about anyone, he loves everyone he meets... He plays fetch! Literally, brings his toy to you, drops it, waits for you to throw it, runs to get it, brings it back, and repeats this for 30 mins to an hour or more... He sleeps in the oddest of positions: like his back is broken with his head upside down while he is twisted in half, or ( my favorite ) he will sleep on his back, sprawled out in the middle of the floor, spread eagle, sometimes with his tail tucked up over his chest in a straight line toward his head... He loves to attack things that move under blankets or things that touch him while he is under a blanket... He is a cat so, strings are awesome to him but, he takes it a step further, he will pull the strings out of my clothing while laying on me, as if he is 'being sneaky' and I won't notice... He made friends with a squirrel and will sit inside the sliding doors and 'play' with the squirrel by moving exactly the way the squirrel does, tail and all... I have no idea if they would still be friends if he was an outside cat but, for awhile, daily, I would see these two playing through the glass... Without fail, every night, he climbs up on me and lays like a baby in my arms or sitting up in my lap laid against my chest while I watch tv, this is 'momma time' and I adore it!
All of what I have described changed about 2 months ago... I started noticing he wasn't playful as much, he was loosing weight and some of the hair around his 'mane'... I dismissed this as it's getting hotter out, he is reacting to that... He also stopped 'momma time' and became reclusive, I knew something was wrong! Then Sunday, June 21st, he started having trouble breathing, a lot of trouble! I took him to a vet that was open on Sundays, I should have been pickier but, I just wanted help for my baby boy... I took him back to the same vet on Tuesday the 23rd and again on Thursday the 25th... He had pleural effusion ( a build up of fluid around his lungs ) and needed to have it removed via chest tap - basically sticking a needle in and sucking out the fluid... The vet had no answer for me as to why this had happened. Pleural effusion is not an illness, but a symptom of one. Well, that following Sunday, the 28th, he was breathing so badly that I thought I was going to lose him that day! I rushed him to the Charleston Veterinary Referral Center in West Ashley and thanks to a wonderful vet, we found out about the mass in his chest, finally. We took him back the very next day to see an oncologist and finally got our answer: Draven has cancer. I have spent more time crying than not over the past 2 weeks and as much as the news hurt, I was relieved to finally know what was wrong. Now, we know what needs to be done to make him better and get the 'old' Draven back...
We have several options in treatment for him, varying from $3200 up to $9300... These are approximate totals, assuming nothing goes wrong and no extra services are needed... His oncologist recommends the most aggressive treatment because his cancer seems to be just as aggressive... That treatment is the $9300 one... Depending on your donations, we will make the decision as to which option we take... So, please donate and share as much as possible...
I will be posting almost daily updates on his progress...
Draven is less than a year and a half old and has cancer! He is a maine coon, indoor only, fixed cat. Here is his story, so far...
Draven found us in October of last year. He was outside in the cold pouring rain, crying out for anyone to help while he was hiding under a neighbors car. I shined my phone's flashlight around and the second it hit his eyes, he came running across the street to me. I picked him up and he was shivering, I handed him to Necee and went in for a towel. I wrapped him up, took him into the house and dried him off. I set him up in our spare bedroom with food, water, dry towels and blankets, a cat box and he thanked me for the next several hours with constant love via headbutts, purring, rubbing all over me ( especially my face ) and refusing to leave my side! I had every intention of finding him a home or turning him over to a rescue but, I thought I would wait a few days to see if any missing posters showed up around the neighborhood. A week went by and no posters. I found it odd because he was well fed and seemed to have belonged to someone, although he was flea infested and his whiskers had been cut. I fell in love with him that first night but was afraid my husband, Jarrod, who has never really liked cats, would not let me keep him. Well, Draven worked his magic and melted Jarrod's heart. Jarrod and Draven are the best of buds now.
He has become more than a cat or a pet to us. For me, someone who suffers from depression, ptsd, anxiety, Lupus, and more, he has become my companion, my therapy, and my source of joy! For Jarrod, he has opened up a part of his heart that he didn't even know existed. I can not imagine living without him.
He has been diagnosed with mediastinal lymphoma cancer, and is going to need chemotherapy to get through this. His lymphoma has developed in his thymus gland, located in his chest, and has caused his heart to be pushed all the way to the right, as well as pushing against his lungs, making breathing difficult, and pushing against his esophagus. We have already spent over $2500 just to get to this point of having answers and choices of treatment plans.
Just like cancer in humans, treatment is expensive. I am asking for your help to save our family member.
Draven is no ordinary, everyday, run of the mill cat! He has a personality that wins over everyone who meets him! He has no reservations about anyone, he loves everyone he meets... He plays fetch! Literally, brings his toy to you, drops it, waits for you to throw it, runs to get it, brings it back, and repeats this for 30 mins to an hour or more... He sleeps in the oddest of positions: like his back is broken with his head upside down while he is twisted in half, or ( my favorite ) he will sleep on his back, sprawled out in the middle of the floor, spread eagle, sometimes with his tail tucked up over his chest in a straight line toward his head... He loves to attack things that move under blankets or things that touch him while he is under a blanket... He is a cat so, strings are awesome to him but, he takes it a step further, he will pull the strings out of my clothing while laying on me, as if he is 'being sneaky' and I won't notice... He made friends with a squirrel and will sit inside the sliding doors and 'play' with the squirrel by moving exactly the way the squirrel does, tail and all... I have no idea if they would still be friends if he was an outside cat but, for awhile, daily, I would see these two playing through the glass... Without fail, every night, he climbs up on me and lays like a baby in my arms or sitting up in my lap laid against my chest while I watch tv, this is 'momma time' and I adore it!
All of what I have described changed about 2 months ago... I started noticing he wasn't playful as much, he was loosing weight and some of the hair around his 'mane'... I dismissed this as it's getting hotter out, he is reacting to that... He also stopped 'momma time' and became reclusive, I knew something was wrong! Then Sunday, June 21st, he started having trouble breathing, a lot of trouble! I took him to a vet that was open on Sundays, I should have been pickier but, I just wanted help for my baby boy... I took him back to the same vet on Tuesday the 23rd and again on Thursday the 25th... He had pleural effusion ( a build up of fluid around his lungs ) and needed to have it removed via chest tap - basically sticking a needle in and sucking out the fluid... The vet had no answer for me as to why this had happened. Pleural effusion is not an illness, but a symptom of one. Well, that following Sunday, the 28th, he was breathing so badly that I thought I was going to lose him that day! I rushed him to the Charleston Veterinary Referral Center in West Ashley and thanks to a wonderful vet, we found out about the mass in his chest, finally. We took him back the very next day to see an oncologist and finally got our answer: Draven has cancer. I have spent more time crying than not over the past 2 weeks and as much as the news hurt, I was relieved to finally know what was wrong. Now, we know what needs to be done to make him better and get the 'old' Draven back...
We have several options in treatment for him, varying from $3200 up to $9300... These are approximate totals, assuming nothing goes wrong and no extra services are needed... His oncologist recommends the most aggressive treatment because his cancer seems to be just as aggressive... That treatment is the $9300 one... Depending on your donations, we will make the decision as to which option we take... So, please donate and share as much as possible...
I will be posting almost daily updates on his progress...
Organizer
Kitty Rodgers-Fritz
Organizer
Ladson, SC