Cancer :(

[Kebechet]

So, apparently a good friend of mine's cat has cancer. I love this cat too, everyone loves this cat... but at this point he's at the vet, and they've done all they really can for him. He's fighting them too hard, and refusing food. She's trying to raise money to 1. get him home and comfortable, and 2. once that's done, see about other options for him, including possibly chemo, but we know it might be too late. This cat is a PTSD support animal who is critical for my friend's mental health.

I can vouch for this person. She's real, she's in the fandom, the cat is real, and he's very sick and miserable
He was happier and more stable before he was taken to the vet. Barring any complications, he gets picked up sometime today, and then we all get to help make him more comfortable, and start giving him medicines to help his discomfort and coax him to eat. The only reason he hasn't been eating, appears to be related to nausea caused by the cancer. If we get rid of that...

There is still a chance for this cat to pull through, IF given the proper chance at more than just a small town clinic. If we get enough funds, he'd be taken to a specialist.

If you want to help, please consider tossing something onto her gofundme. If you have questions for me regarding this, and my part in it, ask away. But in short, I've been acting as local emotional support and trying to spread the word, because she's spread so thin right now, and this cat, and her, need all the help they can get.

Anyway.. here's the gofundme link. www.gofundme.com: Click here to support Treatment for Merlin organized by Holly Miller

If this is the wrong spot for this, I apologize, but I wasn't sure where it should go.

 

[Black Burn]

Sorry to hear, I can't help, I'm under 18 so I don't have options to fund, my parents say that you're a cheater and just try to get free money, sorry

 

[Deleted member 115426]

I don't want to be that guy but... $10,000 for a cat that's already close to the end of its life? Yes I know PTSD and it sucks to lose a pet but I don't see how this is gonna extend the cat's life much more. x.x I am very sorry about this of course.

 

[Deleted member 115426]

Forgive me for being cynical. I know people who are losing their houses, can't get a job, and/or losing their health insurance. An old cat isn't exactly my first priority.

 

[Kebechet]

I don't want to be that guy but... $10,000 for a cat that's already close to the end of its life? Yes I know PTSD and it sucks to lose a pet but I don't see how this is gonna extend the cat's life much more. x.x I am very sorry about this of course.

10 years old for a cat, is not "close to the end of its life" and 10k was a number she put in there because she had to put something. She does NOT expect 10k, or anywhere near it. This person's previous cats have lived into their 20s. There is a chance this cat can be saved and will live to healthy old age, if he's just given that chance. One of the options would be to take him to a specialist/genuine animal hospital in Denver. We've only got small town vets here with minimal training and who don't have access to the fancy experimental cancer meds. But she needs the funds to get him there. He's still got a LOT of fight in him. This cat has a chance. The Gofundme sounds more grim, because it's written by someone who has PTSD who is understandably freaking out, who has barely been able to sleep or function the past week as a result of all of this crap.

But let me reiterate, this animal has a chance if he can get meds and food into him, which he is violently refusing at the vet, because he is a stubborn animal, in an environment he hates, with people he hates. He's still fighting. Once he is eating again, then he needs a specialist, which can not be afforded out of pocket, hence the gofundme.

 

[Deleted member 115426]

10 years old for a cat, is not "close to the end of its life" and 10k was a number she put in there because she had to put something. She does NOT expect 10k, or anywhere near it. This person's previous cats have lived into their 20s. There is a chance this cat can be saved and will live to healthy old age, if he's just given that chance. One of the options would be to take him to a specialist/genuine animal hospital in Denver. We've only got small town vets here with minimal training and who don't have access to the fancy experimental cancer meds. But she needs the funds to get him there. He's still got a LOT of fight in him. This cat has a chance. The Gofundme sounds more grim, because it's written by someone who has PTSD who is understandably freaking out, who has barely been able to sleep or function the past week as a result of all of this crap.

But let me reiterate, this animal has a chance if he can get meds and food into him, which he is violently refusing at the vet, because he is a stubborn animal, in an environment he hates, with people he hates. He's still fighting. Once he is eating again, then he needs a specialist, which can not be afforded out of pocket, hence the gofundme.

Cats who live into their 20s are rare. And a "chance" isn't really that good considering it's 10. I know it's hard to be logical when there is a ton of emotions floating around. I hope there is a good end to your situation though.

 

[mad_muppet]

I'm sorry about your friend's cat.

We've lost 3 of the cats in our colony/shelter this past year. It's always really difficult.

We've been running a GoFundMe just to keep the shelter going because I've been unemployed for two years. Even with all we've raised, we're 2 months from losing our house, which is also our cat shelter (outdoors, heated enclosures, etc, we're not cat hoarders.)

We're so far in debt from all the heroic efforts we've made for this or that cat or dog that we're going to have to declare bankruptcy. After ten or so years, we finally learned that it's better to budget carefully and help more animals than to help one long shot, but they're obviously different situations.

I hope you're able to raise enough for this guy.

 

[quoting_mungo]

The only reason he hasn't been eating, appears to be related to nausea caused by the cancer. If we get rid of that...

While I wish the absolute best for your friend's cat, one of the unfortunate truths I learned when my Belladonna was diagnosed with and later succumbed to feline hepatic lipidosis (basically fatty liver in cats) is that 1) if a cat does not eat for 36-48 hours, there's a high risk it'll go into some sort of organ failure (far as I can tell Bella's illness was partly caused by her being a prissy queen and refusing food the day before she started showing signs of jaundice) and 2) once a cat has associated food with feeling nauseous, getting them to eat again is an uphill struggle at best.

My experience ended with her spending most of a week in hospital, then most of the next week getting tube fed at home by me. She never started eating on her own during that time, and her liver never recovered as it would have needed to. I went as far as I possibly could and then some for her - in my waking hours I was either preparing to feed her, feeding her, cleaning up after feeding her, or dozing for 15 minutes to try to regain some energy before it was time to prepare the next feeding.

This cat has a chance. The Gofundme sounds more grim, because it's written by someone who has PTSD who is understandably freaking out, who has barely been able to sleep or function the past week as a result of all of this crap.

I absolutely agree that 10 isn't particularly old for a cat that's been fed high quality food and been kept in a safe environment all its life. With spleen and liver cancer, though, along with having started out as a stray, I wouldn't count on Merlin pulling through. (Multiple effected organs also suggests metastases which makes prospects grimmer for any cancer patient, human or animal.) It's sad, and these things seem to always strike the best cats (like Merlin, my Bella was incredibly gifted at knowing when Her Human needed her, and though she could be standoffish at other times she'd be there to steady me if I was off-kilter). Your friend seems to realize that this is going to be the end, and the most she seems to want is for him to be comfortable and to get to go with some dignity. That's not PTSD talking. That's knowing her cat and understanding the prospects.

It sucks. It absolutely 100% utterly sucks. I've been there, and I hated every moment of it. I scared the crap out of my mother saying if Bella didn't survive I didn't want to live. The best you can do is be there for your friend and support her through this. Focus on the cat's comfort, not his survival.

 

[Deleted member 115426]

Let me give into my emotional side instead of being a stubborn cold logical cunt. I lost one of my birds last year. I loved the thing to death. It's normal to be sad about things like this. I loved that thing dearly and I still even keep a picture of him handy. But this is life. Nothing lives forever. What matters is that you can pick up the pieces and continue. Be there for your friend. It's the best thing you can do.

 

[Sgt. Kai]

Cancer is an insidious disease. There is no cure and at best the cat might live a few more weeks, If he can start eating again.

I'm in the same boat right now with one of my dogs. So far she's lived longer than expected, but I know we're getting close to the end. Personally I've decided that when she quits eating for a couple days that means she's suffering and I will not stand for that.

 

[Kellan Meig'h]

We lost a cat to cancer some years ago; she fought right to the end, even though the cancerous tumor was sapping her strength. She was about ten when she crossed over the bridge. By the time we discovered it, it was too late to do something about it.

@Ovi the Dragon - ten is not old for an indoor cat. Not by a longshot. We had two old farts, brothers, that lived to be twenty. Another we had made it to twenty-six. She was a cranky old b!tch at the end. Our current cat is fifteen, she's recovering from having a bad infection. It's been a month and she's finally gaining weight again. She is also a big part of the family, not a pet.