Bootsy is a Good Kitty with cancer :(

My name is Sumiko and I am fundraising for my 16-year-old tuxedo cat, Bootsy Catlins. Bootsy is a sweet old guy... he's always been a very gentle and affectionate cat. He purrs really loud, and when he meows, sometimes it sounds like he is saying "Hello?" It's cute. And a little bit scary. The first time I heard it, I thought another human was in the kitchen, or maybe a ghost.

I adopted Bootsy on Halloween of 2009, with my fiance at the time Greg. Greg, sadly, passed in 2017. He really loved both of our cats, Marla the calico, and especially his beloved Bootsy. Here is a picture of me, Greg, and Bootsy at the SPCA on the day we adopted him.

Today (August 9) my girlfriend Emily took Bootsy to the vet, and was told that he has a tumor in his mouth. His mouth had been bleeding, and we thought it might be a dental issue, like a broken tooth, but it wasn't. Bootsy has a tumor in his mouth on the front of his tongue. We have since found out it is Feline Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

The dentist gave us antibiotics to treat the infection and a medicated mouthwash. The mouthwash and antibiotics, plus the visit, came to about $90 altogether and we could afford it. He also told us that it would cost $600 for a biopsy of the tumor to see if it is cancer - which has a high prevalence in older cats, with 89% of mouth tumors being found to be malignant. When we went to take Bootsy in for a biopsy, they found out he also had a dental abscess. We got that treated as well, which was an additional $1,200 so $1,800 - which, we paid for with this fundraiser, as well as the biopsy and a bunch of blood tests and test to see how healthy he was. Other than the abscess and the tumor, his kidneys, heart, and everything else looked great.

We did not have $600, so we decided to crowdsource fund it. Thanks you our generous friends and to cat lovers, we were able to raise $600 the same day that we found out Bootsy had a tumor (August 9), several friends who had experience with going through this with our suggested that we ask the veterinarian if the tumor could be removed at the same time as they get tissue to biopsy it. The tumor was not able to be removed due to its location. We did get his dental abscess treated.

It is cancer, so we may have to raise additional funds for his treatment - Palladia, an oral chemotherapy - as well as for bupronepherine, a painkiller. He also gets CBD for appetite and pain relief. His chemo, and the tests to make sure that it's working okay are about $700 a month - about $400 for the tests and $300 for the chemo.

Here's a picture of Emily with Bootsy and our other cat, Marla.