Help Save Little Bear

Hi friends,

My name is Ocean, and I am coming to you with an ask for community assistance for my good friend Sapling and their cat, Little Bear! We are hosting on my GoFundMe for logistical reasons/access barriers.

Little Bear is having medical issues which have become increasingly urgent and needs to be seen by a vet ASAP. Sapling is a very diligent pet parent who unfortunately is currently facing a lot of barriers, including financial barriers, as a queer disabled person in the process of leaving unsafe housing.

Sapling and I have been friends for years now and they are just truly an excellent human and an integral part of our disabled and queer communities. Please contribute if you are able (every bit helps!), reach out to them for a commissioned tarot reading or drawing (they are talenteddd!) and share with your networks.

Please read below from Sapling:

Hiya! My name is Sapling, and I'm fundraising to help afford to take my cat, Little Bear, to get the vet care she sorely needs.

Little Bear and I have been with each other for 8 years now, and we escaped severe abuse together in 2019. Through it all and since then, she's been my protector in every situation—from scary roommates to bad exes, through couch-surfing to caving-in floors. She’s brought warmth in the harshest winters, and light in some of the darkest times of my life. She's the being that taught me how to love again. My friends say that she and I are a bonded pair. She means more to me than I could ever hope to put into words. I want desperately to do right by her.

Little Bear started showing symptoms in late December 2024, and with help from community, I was able to take her to an initial vet appointment. At that appointment, which was originally for self-inflicted wounds :((, we discovered she has severe gingivitis / tooth decay on her back teeth, and ulcers on both corners of her mouth. We were thankfully able to rule out infections, fleas, etc., and treat her initial wounds with an antibiotic cream. She's had to keep wearing an e-collar/cone since, because she still scratches at herself when I try to take it off, likely due to the pain and stress of the ulcers, according to the vet.

I'm multiply disabled and on ODSP, and have been facing a housing crisis/housing instability since September of 2024 (though, truly, on and off since I escaped in 2019), and I'm unable to afford the further vet care that she desperately needs. If left untreated, the swelling and ulcers in her mouth could develop into something very life-threatening. As it is, it’s clearly painful for her, and while the e-collar is a harm-reduction method, it’s absolutely not at all a long-term solution.

Though the vet I saw was willing to submit an application to the Farley Foundation at the start of January, nearly a month later, they finally told me that they did not renew their OVMA membership in time and are unable to accept any Farley funds for the year of 2025. I’ve made several calls to other vets, including their sister clinics, and have yet to hear anything back either. The original vet quoted Little Bear’s treatment at $2,400 for steroid treatment, further bloodwork, and dental surgery, which would include multiple extractions. The Toronto Humane Society apparently doesn’t treat sick pets, and would only be willing to do her dental surgery at a reduced cost if she no longer has any other symptoms (they only do “preventative” care). The ulcers are only getting worse as time goes on.

I absolutely understand that times are hard (in many ways) for lots of folks, but any amount towards this helps. The sooner I can take Little Bear for treatment, the absolute better.

I’m an artist, and also do tarot readings—I would be happy to offer a 3-card reading to anyone who can donate over $20, or a simple sketch commission for donations over $50. Please contact me through my instagram dms (@sappysunlight) for more info/to arrange that, if you’d like it!!

Thank you <3