❤️ Help Charlie the Foster Dad Battle Cancer

Precious Charlie the Foster Dad has spent his entire life loving, nurturing, and healing the hearts of every cat and kitten that’s come into his care. The time has come where he needs our help. ❤️

Charlie was diagnosed with lung cancer in January of 2024. Here’s his life story.

Charlie the Foster Dad has had quite the life! He was found in a box at a campground in 2010 with his siblings. They were tiny, starving, and barely hanging on. I wasn’t in the perfect place to have a kitten, but I could resist his sweet little face. He was also the last pick of the litter and there was zero interest in adopting him. (We don’t tell him this part of the story.)

I drove from college in Knoxville, TN to pick him up in Nashville. Since then, we’ve been inseparable. He’s gone to college, gotten his degree, moved to NYC where he (and his mom) started a career in television production. We both thrived in NYC and started fostering for the ASPCA. He was so wonderful with our fosters. I started taking pictures and videos of him with fosters because I just felt words didn’t do him justice. You had to see him in action. From there he became a fundamental piece to the ASPCA foster program.

He became a surrogate dad for neonates. He bathed them after bottles and helped facilitate them going to the bathroom. He taught them “how to cat” :) His impact on spicy (very hissy street kitties or shy kittens) was monumental. He helped show them that people could be nice. He would go into the bathroom with me (where I kept them) and act as a buffer between them and me. Since Charlie trusted me, they started to trust me. He also served as an incredible Fospice dad. We had a few cats with medical conditions. Our home became the place where they lived out their days filled with love, happiness, and many episodes of Friends. We also fostered special needs cats and kittens. Please let it be known that no matter what the animals condition was, no matter how extreme their needs were, Charlie loved them all the same. There wasn’t a friend that came into our apartment that he treated any differently. (Now I’m crying.)

I started him an IG account to document his foster journey. We started making foster tutorials as well.

People quickly fell in love with Charlie! We had amazing opportunities with The View, Animal Planet, Jackson Galaxy, The Dodo, The NY Post, Buzzfeed, and several local news stations. His following took off! Some of his followers have been with us many years!

Things were great until fairly recently.

The last two years have been a bit of a rollercoaster for Charlie’s health. He’s had issues with his kidneys and in the summer of 2023, he was diagnosed with a heart murmur. After doing an echo of his heart, we discovered one of his heart chambers is enlarged. I was terrified as this can be fatal if not caught in time or properly treated. I’ve always been hyper-vigilant of Charlie, but this made it worse. A few months later, I noticed he was coughing. The frequency of his cough increased. Back to the vet we went.

I’ll never forget our vet’s face when she came into the room after his X-ray. She’s my friend from college, so I’ve known her for years. I was expecting her to tell me he had a cold or the cough was related to his heart condition. She opened the door, took a breath, and said, “I don’t have great news.” Turns out that she found a mass in his lungs and advised us to see an oncologist. She suspected he had cancer.

We visited Blue Pearl as soon as we could. Our doctor confirmed that he had a large, cancerous mass in his lung as well as a couple

of smaller ones. That’s what was causing his cough, slight change in appetite, and why he just didn’t seem like himself. We had two options: see how he responds to chemotherapy or love him as much as I could for the next 3-6 months. I feel like I heard and felt my heart physically break. Everything internally was screaming and shattering, but the outside world was deafeningly silent. I just cried.

We started chemo in late January and finally found a medication his body responded to. Charlie has been getting chemo, X-rays, and bloodwork every two weeks since. He’s done very well on chemo despite losing some weight and an upset tummy. Some days he doesn’t look like himself. Some days, he’s great. He’s had more good days than bad. The chemo has worked, and his body has responded very well. Even on his bad days, he has remained the most wonderfully sweet cat in the entire world. Even though he feels sick, he’s still loving and attentive to me and to our other cats.

As of June 11, all of the cancer cells died. The large mass, though smaller, is still in his lung. It’s basically filled with air as all of the cancer cells have died. We completed his chemo and were letting him rest until August.

However, about a week ago, I noticed increased coughing and his appetite declining.

I took him back to the oncologist and were told his larger mass has increased in size a little and he has small nodules throughout his lung. I’m unsure of how everything changed so suddenly. We went from remission to palliative care. As of now, I’m seeking a second opinion. This is all new to me, and I want to be sure I’m making the best and most educated decisions for Charlie. We love everyone on our care team so much. I just want to make sure I’m being as thorough as I can be.

So many incredible people have reached out asking how they can help. The truth is, right now we really need help with his existing vet bills and whatever happens next. In a perfect world, he could become healthy enough where we can start fostering again. Charlie is happiest when he’s either cuddled next to me or a baby kitten. But if that can’t happen, I want to help his transition across the Rainbow Bridge to be peaceful.

If you have followed us for awhile, you know that Charlie’s best work is with very spicy, very sick, or very tiny kittens. He is the bridge between these little souls and their future forever homes. Because of this beautiful community we‘ve all built together, we very rarely need to take supplies from rescues. His sweet social media friends donate food, toys, bedding, etc. Because of that only does the kitten thrive, but rescues get to hold onto supplies and give them to other fosters. AND many animals have been adopted through his social pages!! It’s a win/win for us all!!

We are so grateful for every like, comment, share, supportive word, funny DM, and gift you all have given us. Fourteen years ago, I had no idea that bringing home this tiny kitten would impact so many lives the way he has. He’s truly my Guardian Angel and a source of love to everyone he meets. Thank you all for loving, caring, and embracing our furry family that way that you have. In a world that can be so harsh and so dark, you all are lights. You give us hope.

Sincerest thank yous,

Charlie & Chandler Alteri

Charlie in the Dodo