Hello, my name is Sarah (Eva), and this is Beans, my 3-year-old tuxedo boy with a half mustache.

One thing led to another...

On Monday, the 17th of February, we took Beans to the vet clinic because he had what we thought was a skin tag on his anus. The vet explained it was a problem with his anal glands, which needed to be evacuated. This was done successfully, and he came home and seemed happier. However, we believe the stress of that visit caused other underlying problems to flare up.

On Wednesday morning, the 19th of February, we found him sluggish, not wanting to be touched, and crying. He is a quiet cat; he purrs loudly, but he never cries. We were so worried we took him back to the vet, and they said he needed emergency care. We took him to the emergency vet closest to our vet, and they determined he had bladder stones, which not only needed to be flushed, but we would need to okay a surgery to ensure they didn't cause a blockage ever again, as this urinary blockage is often life-threatening for male cats.

We called around on Thursday to a dozen vets and vet hospitals to see if someone could do the surgery Friday morning, the 21st of February, and the wonderful vet at Quioccasin Veterinary Hospital in Richmond not only said they could do the surgery, but that she would come in on her day off to do it herself!

The surgery went well, and Beans is home recovering and doing much better.

The problem is, none of the vet facilities that we went to take payment plans. Money has to be paid up front, and even with pet insurance (which we did not have), you still have to pay up front, and they will partially reimburse you.

So as it stands, my husband and I had to take out a pet care credit card and a loan in order to save the life of our beloved pet. Our nest egg is gone, our rent is due, and we've never been hit so hard by an emergency like this before.

He is also now on a lifelong special diet which costs three times what his food used to cost.

Funds will be used to pay off these debts and to continue to care for Beans in the future. I hate asking at all, but every little bit will help. Thank you, and God bless you.