Help Tylan Fight Stomatitis!

Hi! My name is Tylan! I'm a 4-year-old Siamese. I have a lovely home, a big brother to play with, good food to eat, sun puddles to lay in, and I get lots of tummy rubs (which I demand regularly)! Life would be perfect - except for one thing. I have something called a severe case of stomatitis, and it causes me an awful lot of mouth pain.  Stomatitis is an incredibly painful, severe inflammatory condition of the mouth and gums. 

Why don't I tell you my story?

When I was younger, I lived on the streets of Bangkok, Thailand. A lady they call Granny took me in to protect me from the dangers of the streets. I know she meant well, but she had a very tiny apartment and could not afford to take care of all of the kitties she brought in off the streets. There were 30-40 of us kitties in her tiny apartment. We lived in cages stacked to the ceiling. 

This nice woman came one day and noticed that me and three other Siamese were in pretty bad shape. We all had bad, bad dental problems. We were drooling everywhere. We could not close our mouths or even say, "meow!" So the lady got me and the other Siamese dental care. We could all talk when we returned home! But then they noticed we were all feeling badly with flu-like symptoms.

So the lady decided that we needed to come to the United States where we could get better and find loving forever homes! After me and the other Siamese were vaccinated, microchipped, and got well from our illnesses, we made our long journey to the United States. 

While I was in foster care, I continued to struggle with dental problems. Eventually, the vet decided that the best course of action for me would be to pull almost all of my teeth. So, that is what they did. This improved my health a lot. 

I ended up finding my loving forever home where I live now!

However, even after having nearly all my teeth pulled, I continue to struggle with this stomatitis. I have severe ulcers in my throat that cause me a lot of pain.

Sometimes steroid medication can help kitties with stomatitis, so I have been getting steroid injections every month. However, steroids usually give diminishing returns over time to kitties with stomatitis. 

We are already seeing diminishing returns with me. Every time I get a steroid injection, it helps for less and less time, leaving me with more and more days where I am in pain. 

When I am feeling good, I love to play with my toys (especially my Yeowww! rainbow), bug my older brother, Carmine, follow the Mom around to supervise all of her activities, and boss the Mom around. On the days I'm in pain, I keep to myself. I don't eat much, if at all. I hide a lot and don't talk to the Mom much. I have pain medication for these days, but it is not a good long-term solution to my problem.

There is something called stem cell therapy that might help me. In fact, it is my only chance to live a long and pain-free life. The treatment is still quite new, but we are lucky, because our vet is one of only a few people who is trained in how to do the procedure. 

UC Davis has been the leader in stem cell therapy research for kitties with stomatitis. Their studies have shown that the therapy is effective for up to 70% of kitties with stomatitis, either significantly improving or curing their condition. 

The Mom and I are running this campaign to raise the money we need for me to get this special therapy. Will you please help us meet our goal? No donation is too small! 

Thank you so much for helping me on my journey to a pain-free and healthy life! We appreciate you so much!

Purrs,
Tylan