My 6.5 year old Cat Needs Emergency Surgery

Hi,

My name is Leighanne. My cat’s name is Jinx. He needs emergency surgery for an abscess in his chest wall. I list all of the details below, as there is a lot to go through. This is an emergency need for my cat, and without this surgery, he will die. Unfortunately, because of Covid and job complications, we don't have enough money to pay for his care.

History:

Jinx started breathing heavily and refusing food on Friday, January 28th, 2022. Saturday, the 29th, he went to the vet, who did an exam and determined it was the start of a Respiratory Infection. Jinx was given fluids and an antibiotic shot that would last for two weeks at that time. I am happy I got back home that night, as I had Covid and was quarantined away from my family, so I had a few days with him before things got worse.

Monday, January 31st, his breathing got a lot worse. We took him back to the vet at 3pm. At that time, the Vet said that his breathing was worse and that he wanted to give him more fluids and take an X-ray to see what was going on. It didn’t take long for us to get called back to the office after the X-rays came in. We knew it wasn’t going to be good when they’d stopped treatment to call us in.

The X-ray showed Pleural Fluid in his chest cavity from an unknown source. The fluid seemed to be encapsulated but was large enough that his heart was hidden by the capsule/fluid. This capsule pushed in on his lungs and made it hard for him to breathe. When the Vet tried to pull some fluid out, there was some blood in it, but the Vet did admit that it’s possible he nicked a vein during the process and not to worry yet.

He immediately sent us to the local ER to get him treatment, immediately! He didn’t even let us pay him first. “Take care of your cat first; you can pay me later.” He has been amazing through all this. His name is Dr. Bull at Animal Hospital of Fountain Valley! He takes his time to explain what’s wrong to the client and shows he cares about everyone who walks through his doors! He is a family vet and did say that what Jinx would need, he could not do for him. It’s why we went on to another place.

By 4:30pm, my mom and I were in the VCA West Coast Specialty and Emergency Animal Hospital’s parking lot. We were told the consult and oxygen would be free at this time, and we were to fill out the intake forms. Unfortunately, because of Covid, they aren’t allowing anyone in the building, so we had to stay out in the car. We waited a long while to talk with anyone or hear any news on our boy.

We finally heard that he had been responding well to oxygen. They also had done an ultrasound to see the sac better, and it wasn’t very conclusive, although the tech admitted he wasn’t the ultrasound guy and didn’t quite know what he was doing.

We were given an estimate of the costs… $43-5,900. And that was just for diagnostics and an overnight stay. The diagnostics would determine the treatment and outcome of our stay. We agreed to two of the tests and draining of the sack. That was going to cost about $1,300.

Two things we knew going in. If the fluid was blood, Euthanasia was the kind option. If the fluid was white or pus-like, he could survive it. It was an agonizing hour waiting to hear about the tests. The PT/PTT test was likely contaminated. The TBFUA blood test was perfect! As expected with an infection, the white blood cells and neutrophils were high. His body is doing everything right to protect him.

The fluid was white and pus-like. That means we had options. They were able to take him off oxygen after the surgery, and he was doing well. When discussing what the fluid meant, surgery was the definitive outcome for Jinx. They started talking to us about what all Jinx needed. The price quickly started jumping around. It felt like being at a used car salesman that was using every manipulation tactic in the book.

When we asked to see our cat before leaving for the night, as it was almost midnight, we were told they would set up a private room for us after agreeing to their plan of action. There was a lot of back and forth in what things would cost, what they wanted, and what they would allow. When we told them that we couldn’t afford to go through with a CT scan that night but could afford the overnight stay, they told us that they wouldn’t keep him overnight anymore, despite the many times they said he needed to stay under supervised care.

We talked about it more and decided that it was the best course of action. We weren’t comfortable with him staying there, and the hospital said he was stable enough to go home for a while if we decided to let him pass peacefully. We wanted our boy home.

Results:

Since he has been home, he has been doing okay. However, we know he needs surgery, and we know it needs to happen as soon as possible. His blood panel and cytology results have returned, but we are waiting on the culture. The blood panel and cytology results tell us that he is fighting an infection, likely an abscess, that was more than likely caused by some kind of foreign object puncturing and entering the chest wall. This could have happened either by ingestion or a skin abrasion/injury. The culture will tell us what bacteria we are fighting to give him better antibiotics.

As of yesterday, February 3rd, he has started to reject food, but that could be from his pain meds being too high if a dosage, so we are cutting back today. We are contacting a surgeon for a consult to find out the next course of action.

His breathing is in a good range, no fever, and we are making sure he stays hydrated. He wants to sleep on the bed with his favorite person, my mom; his favorite stuffy, Red Fox; and the Red Cape that I made him for Christmas that he now uses as a blanket.

What We Need:

What we need the money for is to cover his medical expenses. To help pay for his bills at the emergency vet, I had to sign up, call to be approved immediately, and completely max out a CareCredit account of $2,200. The ER bill was $2,331 and some odd cents, so I had to cover the rest out of pocket. My parents and I have about $5,000 between the three of us for the rest of the month. But that is also our money for bills, food, gas to and from work... everything. We could probably only afford to put $2-3,000 of that money towards Jinx, and it won't be enough to cover the bills. The surgery could easily cost more than that. We won’t know the final costs until after consulting with the surgeon.

My step-dad is self-employed, so money isn’t as steady as a 9-5 job. My mother has one client she cares for, a few hours a week, but is too injured to do more. She needs a hip replacement, a rotator cuff surgery, and has problems with her spine. I have been disabled my entire life, but I was looking for a part-time job at the beginning of the year when I got Covid and had to stop. Before this, I had lost my first job when the business ran into contract disputes, and then I stopped working my second job as it was a seasonal hire job. I only got back home six days ago, just in time for Jinx to get seriously ill. After I post this, I will be looking for any jobs I can apply to.

Our Plans for the Money:

I am putting this out on as many sites as I can find; GoFundMe, CoFundMyPet, Waggle, and GiveSendGo. I am putting my goal as $10,000 on each site. We hope the bills won’t go this high, but we honestly have no idea. I will be posting updates at least every other day on his condition, and I will be open and honest about every cost and what any money we receive will be going to. I will answer any questions people have on this matter, as well.

I don’t expect to max out or exceed this goal, but if we do, we plan to give any money we do not use in Jinx’s bills to a couple of charities; TinyKittens, the Orphan Kitten Club, and charities that help others pay their vets bills too.

Any help that can be given is deeply appreciated. Thank you, and God bless!

Leighanne Clitheroe