Help Harpo's Fosters!

Many of you already know the story about how Harpo fought cancer while I fought to keep us from ending up on the street after we got evicted in 2018, and how after four years of housing insecurity, we finally moved into safe, stable housing again on the fourth anniversary of the surgery I did not expect him to survive, thanks to help from our amazing supporters.

The main thing that kept me going during those years, other than my cats themselves, was the dream that Harpo might one day be so successful that I could pay back the friend who helped me save him with not just money, but a chance to buy a home that she otherwise would not have had. A duplex bought with my down payment and her stability and credit, with her half full of elderly and special needs cats, and mine full of kittens with which I would teach people how to amplify their cat’s little quirks to turn them into regular enrichment activities, like I did with Harpo. Then he could continue to bring joy long after he was gone.

But two weeks ago, my friend died of cancer and with her died that dream. For I’d never be able to do it on my own. No one is going to give a loan to someone who was unemployed for years after an accident, then spent the seven years poor enough to qualify for food stamps, who still makes under $50,000 a year. These last two weeks have been the darkest since the first few I spent in my friend’s spare room, which I did not dare leave, since she lived just a few doors down from the new resident manager who was busily pushing out as many long term tenants as they could.

Then a little crack of light appeared. The artist who drew Pixel Harpo told me that a feral mom had set up housekeeping between his house and shed, that she had stopped coming back, and that the kittens had spent two days getting louder and thinner. He didn’t know what to do, so I told him to bring them to me.

I probably won’t ever buy a home, or found a cat sanctuary, or even live much longer than Harpo does But I can at least take care of these babies, who look like they were born the day my friend went into the hospital, plus or minus one.

I’ve set the goal at $500 per kitten to cover deworming, a variety of tests, vaccinations, and spaying/neutering. For since Harpo is immunocompromised, I really shouldn’t let them interact freely unless they have ALL the tests. For on the one hand, FIV and FeLV are not very contagious, but on the other hand, bottle babies can be a little bitey sometimes, and Harpo might take it into his head to try to bring them to me and accidentally break the skin (which is why he won’t get a chance until they’re old enough that he won’t injure them).

It breaks my heart that my friend did not get to see them.