Almighty Hat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hat_plays_sims) wrote2014-10-14 04:04 am
hat_plays_sims) wrote2014-10-14 04:04 am
Entry tags:
I am guilty but desperate
I hate to do this, I really hate to do this when I've been so epically non-productive lately (I actually have so much stuff so close to done, it's like two thousand files, but it's not quite ready for prime time so to speak), but if there's any chance you've been considering making a donation... Well, okay, lemme cut this: it's vet bills, basically.
My cat, Harley, is thirteen years old. She's been MY cat since she was born (and, you know, the cat chooses the human, not the other way around). She's a Maine coon mix, so she's got some pretty epic hair.
Well, that pretty epic hair gathered into a pretty epic hairball. She tried to get it up and it clogged her esophagus for three days before we figured out what was wrong. She needed surgery to remove it, and she's currently being fed by gastric tube. By me, at home, because I am so scared to leave her at the vet just in case anything happens to her.
We're up to, like, seven thousand dollars in vet bills we can hardly afford, and that'sif everything goes flawlessly from this point on very likely to increase, because I got a call from the vet saying the underlying cause of her drain-clogging hairballs is lymphoma. Cats respond to chemotherapy better than humans do, or so the vet tells me, but I have no idea how much kitty-chemo costs, or how long it will buy her.
UPDATE: Harley is basically recovered from surgery; her gastric tube comes out on Halloween, the same day as her first oncology appointment. She came through surgery like a champ and is now allowed and encouraged to eat and drink by mouth. She's only had one off day since her last vet's appointment, and really that was less a day than three hours around breakfast time. I'm equal parts terrified and hopeful, and I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who's donated so far. (I'm still on the laptop, far away from my in-progress files and my full game installation, but that's because somebody has to be Watched or she over-exerts her fool self.)
UPDATE AGAIN, 11-18: Harley has had two appointments with the oncologist now. She's got her stomach tube out, no more e-collar or surgical sweater-vest, and her shaved bits are starting to get downy again. Harley is on oral chemotherapy and steroids, and while she has a very healthy appetite, she's only managing to keep down kitten food. (Well, and sour cream and margarine, when she can get 'em. Anything with chunks comes back up.) We're working on switching from oral steroids to a transdermal cream, because Harley's having trouble keeping the steroids down (and they're too bitter to powder and sneak into her food). Her white cell count looks good, and her lymphoma is small-cell lymphoma, which is treatable. She'll probably be on medication for the rest of her life, and the chemo should buy her at least a year, maybe more if she responds well or manages to go into remission. Her emergency care (fluids, an overnight stay at the emergency vet, surgery, biopsy, pain meds, prescription food) totaled out at about $8,000, and her ongoing medications run around $100 a month. Donations have been amazing, close to $600, which is more than I ever hoped for. If you've donated, thank you, so much, I can't even describe how much I appreciate it. Harley has been My Kitty since she was born.
If you'd like to see pictures of Harley, here's one and here's another and here's a third:
That's mostly the end of my sob story, so I'm going to end the cut here. I'm going to be turning EVERYWHERE for help (including eBay) as soon as I'm not stuck home alone and tethered to my cat, but in the meantime...
If you can donate anything, anything at all, I'd be incredibly grateful. I have some Monster High dolls for sale if you'd rather get something physical for your money. I'm willing to swap Sims content for donations, too, but given that I won't be getting more than four and a half hours of sleep at a time for a while (and I can't be on my Simming computer while a post-surge cat gets in trouble any time I'm more than six inches away from her), please bear with me in terms of how long it takes to FILL those requests.
Even just good thoughts are appreciated. Harley's got some good years in her if she pulls through this; I'd like her to have as many of them as possible. (I mean, purchases and donations are appreciated MORE, but only because vets need money, not grateful tears.)
My cat, Harley, is thirteen years old. She's been MY cat since she was born (and, you know, the cat chooses the human, not the other way around). She's a Maine coon mix, so she's got some pretty epic hair.
Well, that pretty epic hair gathered into a pretty epic hairball. She tried to get it up and it clogged her esophagus for three days before we figured out what was wrong. She needed surgery to remove it, and she's currently being fed by gastric tube. By me, at home, because I am so scared to leave her at the vet just in case anything happens to her.
We're up to, like, seven thousand dollars in vet bills we can hardly afford, and that's
UPDATE: Harley is basically recovered from surgery; her gastric tube comes out on Halloween, the same day as her first oncology appointment. She came through surgery like a champ and is now allowed and encouraged to eat and drink by mouth. She's only had one off day since her last vet's appointment, and really that was less a day than three hours around breakfast time. I'm equal parts terrified and hopeful, and I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who's donated so far. (I'm still on the laptop, far away from my in-progress files and my full game installation, but that's because somebody has to be Watched or she over-exerts her fool self.)
UPDATE AGAIN, 11-18: Harley has had two appointments with the oncologist now. She's got her stomach tube out, no more e-collar or surgical sweater-vest, and her shaved bits are starting to get downy again. Harley is on oral chemotherapy and steroids, and while she has a very healthy appetite, she's only managing to keep down kitten food. (Well, and sour cream and margarine, when she can get 'em. Anything with chunks comes back up.) We're working on switching from oral steroids to a transdermal cream, because Harley's having trouble keeping the steroids down (and they're too bitter to powder and sneak into her food). Her white cell count looks good, and her lymphoma is small-cell lymphoma, which is treatable. She'll probably be on medication for the rest of her life, and the chemo should buy her at least a year, maybe more if she responds well or manages to go into remission. Her emergency care (fluids, an overnight stay at the emergency vet, surgery, biopsy, pain meds, prescription food) totaled out at about $8,000, and her ongoing medications run around $100 a month. Donations have been amazing, close to $600, which is more than I ever hoped for. If you've donated, thank you, so much, I can't even describe how much I appreciate it. Harley has been My Kitty since she was born.
If you'd like to see pictures of Harley, here's one and here's another and here's a third:
That's mostly the end of my sob story, so I'm going to end the cut here. I'm going to be turning EVERYWHERE for help (including eBay) as soon as I'm not stuck home alone and tethered to my cat, but in the meantime...
If you can donate anything, anything at all, I'd be incredibly grateful. I have some Monster High dolls for sale if you'd rather get something physical for your money. I'm willing to swap Sims content for donations, too, but given that I won't be getting more than four and a half hours of sleep at a time for a while (and I can't be on my Simming computer while a post-surge cat gets in trouble any time I'm more than six inches away from her), please bear with me in terms of how long it takes to FILL those requests.
Even just good thoughts are appreciated. Harley's got some good years in her if she pulls through this; I'd like her to have as many of them as possible. (I mean, purchases and donations are appreciated MORE, but only because vets need money, not grateful tears.)