Help us save Houdini.

Hi, my name is Juan and this is Houdini, my Bombay cat. Houdini has 4 years old, he is very social and he likes to speak a lot, specially when I wake up.

Houdini was born in Italy, he was adopted with only 3 months from a cat shelter, apparently he was abandoned in the street to his luck.

Houdini is the first cat I have ever had, he is completely black and has the most beautiful eyes, the most beautiful I have ever seen. Since the first day I met him, I noticed that he was a very scared cat, this was particularly challenging for me, because I wasn't used to cats, I've been a dog owner before so I was not familiarised with cats behaviour, I remember he was always looking at me behind wherever he chose to hide from and me feeling frustrated for not understanding what to do.

Houdini's confidence to adapt to his new family grew with time, little by little he came out of his hiding spots and understood that I just wanted to be his friend. Perhaps I thought he was scared of me, without realising that animals come to you when human are ready and not viceversa.

From that moment Houdini and I became truly inseparable, he followed me everywhere and came to me to play with every single material I use for my career in fashion, probably one of the most entertaining worlds to be in for a cat, a lot of materials to play with.

Due to my career, I travel a lot, sometimes with people, sometimes by myself but never without Houdini, he is my little friend, he is always there.

It's amazing how sometimes you do not realise the things you were needing before you have them, to me its waking up and go to sleep with Houdini's eyes and his body hit when he sits over my chest, or when he sits over my computer seeking for attention, watching him run over the house playing with anything he found or trying to catch a mosquito, cats can really find happiness in the simplest things.

Over the years and due to many people coming to my house, Houdini became into a sociable cat, he wasn't afraid anymore and he became one of the most common questions of anyone who visits me, where is Houdini?

Over the last month, Houdini started to feel bad, we did not know why, he had a cold a week before, but he seemed to get better the week after.

Unfortunately he began to present breathing difficulties, he started to breath through his mouth and to move all his abdomen to let the air go through his lungs, we thought the cold came back with a higher intensity, however this was not the case, our worry began to grow.

We took him to his veterinarian and after doing an x ray, the doctor told us that his lungs (the pleura) were full of fluid and that they had to perform a Thoracentesis (an extortion method to remove the fluid from his lungs).

Once the procedure was finished, they've found more than 600 ml of white fluid, known as Chyle that appears on the lungs when you have Chylothorax.

At beginning with did not know how to react, because we never heard of this rare condition, but after we heard the doctor's explanation we realised that we were in front of a very difficult and challenging situation.

Chylothorax definitition:

"Chylothorax is the accumulation of chyle, a milky bodily fluid, in the pleural cavity. This condition results from the disruption of the thoracic duct or its tributaries. The causes of chylothorax can be broadly categorized into traumatic (eg, postsurgical incidents) and nontraumatic conditions, with malignancy being the most common nontraumatic cause. The presence of chyle in the pleural space can lead to respiratory distress, nutritional deficiencies, and immunological issues due to the loss of lymphocytes. Diagnosis typically involves imaging studies and fluid analysis to confirm the presence of chyle in the pleural space.

Treatment for chylothorax depends on the underlying cause and severity. Options include dietary modifications to reduce chyle production, medications such as Rutin, somatostatin/octreotide, midodrine, and sirolimus, and a surgical intervention. A staged care plan, progressing from minimally invasive to more invasive techniques, is often beneficial."

Houdini has been drained 4 times so far, 1 drainage a week. His body continuously generates fluid that after a week begins to give him breathing issues, so he has to be drain again.

According to his doctor, the condition will continue to manifest, unless the medications that we are giving him such as Rutin and the low fat diet he is having, help to reduce the chyle produce by his body. Unfortunately this medications and methods are still not 100% sure they will work.

We continue to make more exams to him on a weekly basis to try to find hope and a solution to his rare condition.

The accumulation of chyle in his torax are irritating constantly his lungs and he is on the risk to develop a pleural fibrosis.

Doctors have suggested to proceed with a surgical intervention to repair this issue, unfortunately for us, the constant visits to the veterinarians, tests, drainages and medicines are an increasing budget that are leaving us with no option to help him, making this a very frustrating experience and a sad reality in which most probably we will see

Houdini's life continue to deteriorate, until there's nothing else to do.

We have consulted in various clinics here in Milan to try to find the best treatments and prices, therefore we are asking for your help to give Houdini another chance and collect fund to perform the surgery he needs and other therapies he need.

The total amount covers the bills above, plus an emergency drainage visit we had on the 22nd of October of 170 euros, as well as an estimate of one more month of weekly drainages (4 times a week).

Having a pet for many is a nice thing, but when situations like this appear, it seems that the advice from many is to cut his life. We do not think in this way, we like to believe that animals aren't just an accessory to our lives but part of it.

When I adopted Houdini I was afraid of those green eyes looking at me from his hiding spot, now I am afraid to not see them again.