Jack Tripper Needs Your Help

One of our officers, Debbie, took Jack Tripper and his foster mom to the vet on January 15th.  His foster was reporting that Jack's appetite wasn't good and that he was vomiting, less energetic than normal, and just not his charming self.  Despite not feeling well,  Jack is obviously a sweetheart, who loves petting and affection.  Along with an exam, the doctor drew blood, gave Jack  fluids, and sent home on antibiotics.  All in the hopes that he would fight off what was thought to be an infection.

Jack perked up and did well for about four days, but by January 22, his foster mom noted that he was not doing well, was not eating, was lethargic and vomiting. Thankfully, we were able to get him to the vet that same afternoon. When Debbie saw him this time, her heart dropped. It was obvious that Jack was very sick. The vet turned him on his side to palpate his abdomen and, not only did Jack not fight him--he didn't even sit up afterwards as would be expected.   The doctor felt an abnormality in Jack's abdomen and recommended x-rays.  The x-rays did show an abnormality, but didn't give the doctor  enough information to make a diagnosis. The doctor then performed an ultrasound, which revealed that Jack had a blockage of some sort.  The blockage appeared to be complete.  Jack was failing fast.  At that point, we had two choices, euthanasia or surgery - immediate surgery.   Of course, we opted for immediate exploratory surgery to save Jack.

A growth was found in Jack's small intestines.  The doctor removed it and sent it out for pathology. We're anxiously awaiting biopsy results but, in the meantime, Jack, who was supposed to stay in the hospital 3-4 days to recover, was up and ready to go home two days later! He was eating and doing everything that a healthy cat should and was obviously wasting his time in the hospital!  When Debbie and his foster mom went to pick him up, he proudly showed off his 4-inch scar and listened intently as his medications were outlined for his very relieved foster mom. Jack was his sweet self again. During the car ride home, he rolled over, stretched as much as he could in a carrier, and seemed anxious for things to get back to normal. He'll have to take it easy for a while and won't be able to play with his cat and dog friends, but we're hoping that things will soon be back to normal and that the biopsy results will be good. Fingers crossed for this very sweet boy!

Before he started to show signs of illness, Jack was a happy, healthy, young cat.  We had no  choice but to approve a life-saving surgery for him.  However, for a small, foster-based rescue, $3,500 is a lot of money.  In fact, it's well over a month's worth of normal operating costs.  This is the point in the story where we implore our supporters to donate to Jack's gofundme page so that we can pay off his vet bill and continue to rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home cats in need.  Thank you in advance for your generosity.