My name is Mary and I have the best cat in the world. (No, I will not be accepting criticism, be jealous.) Zee is a big, sweet boy and he's the only cat I know with a curly tail (pictures below). He greets everyone who comes in the door, he gives hugs, and he always sleeps on my neck. Can I breathe? No. But it's worth it for the kitty snuggles. Oh, and he drools.

Well, a few months ago, Zee started losing weight. He's usually very food motivated and doesn't have a problem keeping weight on, so I took him to the vet where he was diagnosed with feline AIDS. We started treatment right away, switched him to a high-calorie food, gave him as many treats as he wanted, and for a little while, it seemed to be helping.

Then he lost 2 pounds in 2 weeks.

We went back to the vet as soon as possible where we realized he had large-cell intestinal lymphoma. Because he was too sick to withstand surgery, we've started him on radiation and chemo. He's feeling much better and he's even gained back a pound, so we're as optimistic as we can be with his diagnosis. Instead of watching him go through painful final weeks, I can give the best cat in the world another year of comfort and snuggles.

But giving him that time is very, very expensive. Between ER visits, diagnostic tests, and treatment, his vet bills have already come to $15,000, with another $8000 coming up for additional rounds of chemo. It's not fair that he has to go through this, he deserves another 10 years of snuggles and treats and playtime. But at least I can give him one more good year.