Thurston's Emergency Surgery Fund

Thurston is my 14 year old maine coon. I got him as a "birthday gift" for my 19th birthday. He has lived as my best friend for 14 years, through all of my trials and tribulations, and been the one stable force in my life throughout everything.

On 10/18, I brought him to the vet (City Creatures in Buffalo, NY) for a checkup because he'd been straining to pee. They did tests and found his blood work was normal, but he had stones in his bladder that were taking up a good portion of the organ and needed to be treated ASAP. They recommended we begin with a diet of Hills Prescription Diet S/D food to dissolve the stones and was told that there is a chance the stones would get small enough to begin to pass, but get stuck in his urethra. If this happened, I was told, it would be an emergency as a bladder obstruction could be fatal. I monitored him closely and kept him on this diet until this weekend, 11/3 when he stopped eating.

He hadn't eaten since Friday and was hiding in the litter box room, was lethargic, wouldn't drink, and could barely walk or even lay down comfortably, so we took him to the emergency vet (Northtowns Emergency Vet Hospital in  Tonawanda, NY). They found that he was severely dehydrated, with an abnormally low body temp of 95 degrees (cats should remain around 102 degrees) and upon running bloodwork, found that his kidney function was decreased by 75% and his potassium level was sky high, his electrolyes and dehydration were at "moderate to severe" levels, and his white blood cell count was high indiciating an infection. I was told to prepare myself.

After being admitted to the hospital and put on IV fluids, a new round of antibiotics (Baytril) Thurston woke up this morning and his body temp was back to normal. His electrolites and hydration levels were better, but his BUN and Creatine (kidney levels) were still high and his potassium only went up through the night. 

Finally, after 24 hours of fluids, I received a call from the doctor saying his bloodwork came back normal and they believe the reason this happened is because a stone blocked his urethra and caused him not to urinate for several days. They stated that because this happened once, it is more likely to happen again, causing him pain and chance of fatality, and the answer to fix everything would be to perform a cystotomy - a surgical removal of the stones in the bladder to ensure that another blockage/potential fatal incident doesn't occur. 

My partner and I both applied for care credit and were approved for $1500. The cost of the emergency care at Northtowns Emergency Clinic is $850, which leaves us $650 on care credit to help pay for the surgery.

The emergency vet quoted us $2200 for the surgery but was understanding that we cannot afford that and I do not qualify for more credit. City Creatures quoted us $1600 (could be less could be more) and got us an appt for tomorrow 11/7 at 8am.

The surgery is around $1600, and deducting the amount we have remaining on care credit, which is $650, we still need to come up with $950. Neither of the vets, nor the two others I called, offer payment plans.

I am asking for help. I have never been so desperate in my life to save my best friend of 14 years. The idea of living without him or having him in any sort of pain is unbearable. He has gotten me through the hardest times of my life and to say he is a part of me is an understatement. I am truly asking for your help and will promise you that I will do whatever I can for you in return. Thurston will send all donors a personal thank you card once he gets home from the hospital. 

I thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for reading this and caring about my angel baby.