Help Save Cookie the Stray Cat

Hello,

My name is Jim, and over the last three years, I have been caring for several stray cats that have been roaming around my street. During that time, my family has taken two of them into our home and they have become complete indoor house cats, joining our current house cats as members of the family. A third stray we have taken in still likes to go outside, so we refer to him as our half-pet. There are three other strays that we feed and watch out for, one has taken up residence under our sunroom (and likes to come in when it rains) but still doesn't trust us enough to become a house pet. The other two continue to wander but are daily visitors on our front porch and hang out for hours. One even lets us pet him. We hope to get all three of these guys into good foster homes once we have fully gained their trust and they are comfortable with us in an indoor setting.

But this story, and fundraiser, is about a new addition to the community. His name is Cookie. Early in May, Cookie showed up in the street outside of our home one evening. I went out to greet him, and he came right up to me. That's when I noticed that he seemed very underfed and in bad shape. He felt like literal skin and bones. I was able to coax him into the house with a bowl of food, and he has not left since that day. A trip to the vet revealed that he is 14 years old and has anemia and a Thyroid issue, for which he is now on medication. We have also discovered that he is deaf. He also appears to have some respiratory issues (sneezing and coughing) and may have an ear infection. I have contacted many shelters and rescue organizations to try to see if we could find him a good foster home with someone who can get him the care he needs. Unfortunately, this time of year has a lot of organizations filled up with cats, and we cannot find anyone who is able to take him in and get him the complete medical care he needs.

We would love to continue to have Cookie stay with us, as he is a very gentle and sweet old guy, but between the costs of feeding and caring for the three strays we have taken in along with our original fur baby, and my own medical bills (I suffered a heart attack at the end of March), we simply cannot afford the vet bills that will be required to get Cookie completely healthy. We are reluctant to take him to a shelter as there is little chance that this poor guy will ever be adopted and we certainly do not want him living the rest of his days in a cage (if they don't put him to sleep to begin with).

That's why I have started this fundraiser, so we can continue to care for him until one of the rescue organizations has a foster opening where he can remain in a loving home. I have created a page for Cookie on my website, and have created T-shirts and a mug that can be purchased to help towards this end, along with this fundraiser. Any help we can get to keep Cookie in a home and healthy is much, much appreciated!