My 5 Year Old Precious Boy Zagreus Needs Support

Hi there, my name is Ryan Denief.

This fundraiser however isn't about me. Its about my cat Zagreus that is only 5 years old.

He was diagnosed with Dry Feline Infectious Peritonitis.

A few years ago, I added this adorable and precious kitty to my family as my first cat, rescued from a shelter.

(Picture from the day I adopted him)

I have two other cats that have become a part of my family since then, and while they all mean the world to me, Zagreus was my first and means so much to me. He has been there when I've been at my lowest, and has been the most constant companion anyone could hope for.

Now he needs my help. A lot. A few weeks ago he suddenly started not wanting his dental greenie treats, started not eating his hard food as often, and would leave crumbs of his softer treats whenever they were offered. I added more wet food to his routine at this time.

He eventually started to lose more weight over the next couple weeks, over a KG according to his weights at the vet, while slowly becoming more lethargic, until I was able to bring him in to my vet this past week.

(His sudden loss of weight)

The appointment started innocently enough, but once I got the blood panel results things took a pretty harsh turn:

"I just wanted to follow up with you about Zagreus. I wanted to go over the bloodwork again and the differential diagnosis that we had talked about.

On bloodwork HCT and hemoglobin were observed to be low. This likely indicates anemia of chronic disease (going on for weeks to months). Moderate neutrophilia, this means that one of the white blood cells (Neutrophils) is elevated. In his case I suspect that he has an inflammatory condition going on in his body. Low Urea due to cachexia, meaning he has lost weight and with muscle wasting the Urea decreases. Chloride is low which means he likely has vomited in the last 48 hours. The total protein is over 120 g/L and not reading on our machine. This value is where most of my concern comes from. The possible differential diagnosis (diseases that cause TP elevation) are; Feline Infectious Peritonitis, Multiple myeloma, Lymphoma (especially B-cell lymphoma), Extra medullary plasma cell tumor. Further diagnostics would be needed to determine the cause of his elevated TP and consequently his symptoms.

Next steps would be to work up what disease(s) he has which would be to go to a specialist that can offer advanced imaging such as ultrasound, CT and MRI. When we are looking for cancers and tumors, imaging is the best way to go. Diagnosing FIP is very difficult, and an exploratory surgery is one of the best ways to go about investigating or advanced imaging while taking samples to send to the pathologist. At our clinic I am happy to do radiographs but to work up the diseases that I feel are most likely would have to be done at a specialist.

Palliative care at this time is an appropriate option as well. Supportive treatment is what I would recommend. I can give medications to help with nausea, appetite, fluids and pain medications. The key is to keep him comfortable. You are a very diligent and caring owner, which is why Zagreus is doing as well as he is. If he is eating and drinking and has a good quality of life we can monitor him and add in medications as symptoms come up. This would be the most cost-effective way to proceed."

(Zagreus while at the vet)

In passing she did comment that if I decide to take Zagreus to a specialist the costs would be significant and she said a ballpark figure for all of the testing and treatment that Zagreus might require could cost up to $10 000, however, they are not aware of the exact fees for the specialist aside from the initial consultation, which usually starts at about $500. That is when they could get you an accurate estimate of the total cost.

Unfortunately I don't think this is a realistic route for me to take and I was going to aim to just take care of him the best I can and meet all his needs and make sure he is comfortable until it is his time.

My donation goal is to be able to meet those needs for him through things like pain killers, appetite stimulants and other such medications that my veterinarian suggested.

It is also take care of his end of life needs such as an euthanasia, cremation and an urn.

They gave me an estimate of what the former looks like as well when I followed up with them:

"The cost for the Euthanasia procedure is $227.97 plus GST and the options for general cremation (not having ashes returned to you) is $69.37 plus GST and for private cremation (having ashes returned to you) is $240.00 on top of the procedure costs. We have several options for urns if you are interested in an urn, the price ranges from $15.00 for a small wooden urn and goes up from there, there are a lot of options we could go over for urns. "

Unfortunately, all of these options are currently out of my reach. I am currently unemployed and used all of my personal finances in order to take him to his appointment.

Zagreus' time is slowly running out.

He has been eating a bit better ever since the appointment after introducing freeze dried cat food and wheat grass into his diet, and is continuing to eat his wet options most of the time.

I want to be able to bring him comfort like he has brought me for so many years in the time that he has left.

Please help my precious little man.

(A picture of Zagreus taken today)

Here are some photos of him being precious.