Help Lord Byron fight diabetes and DKA

Celeste Mott is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hey friends. As you probably know, I've suffered a bunch of setbacks over the past year, including significant damage to my house from Hurricane Ida, loss of income due to chronic illness, and, most recently, multiple trips to the emergency veterinarian to diagnose, stabilize, and treat my cat, Lord Byron.

I had managed to swing most of these expenses thanks to the generous and kind support of immediate family & close friends, but Byron was hospitalized again on 7/6 for diabetic ketoacidosis and multiple infections, and while he is fighting very hard for his life, the ER bill is mounting. I don’t want to have to cut his life short due to finances. He is my world.

A little about the Lord: I rescued him from a bad living situation just a few months after I moved to New Orleans in 2012. He was “living” behind a dumpster, ostensibly in the care of a woman whose other pets had died from neglect and abuse. He was just a few months old, skinny and scared.

Since then, he’s saved my life multiple times. He’s been with me through gnarly depression, he’s helped me beat alcohol abuse & stay sober. He’s been by my side through heartbreak, grief, & loss. We’ve navigated flooding apartments, hurricane evacuation, & many more stressful, life-changing situations together. As my chronic illness has worsened, he’s been with me as I’ve grappled with chronic pain, sleeplessness, & a shrinking world.

For the past month we’ve been navigating a new journey together: feline diabetes. I’ve had to learn how to shoot his insulin, check his blood glucose at home, adjust his diet and juggle his specialized routine around the care of other animals. I’ve had to monitor his behavior like a hawk, test his pee for ketones. We are on a strict schedule. I’ve been sleeping on the couch a lot.

It’s thanks to this close monitoring that I noticed, a few days ago, that he was once again slipping into DKA. He’s now at Metairie Small Animal Hospital receiving round the clock emergency care that will hopefully regulate his diabetes and save his life.

His last hospital stay was $4000, which I slapped on a credit card and which was then generously covered by a family member. But with hurricane season looming, a hole in my roof from Ida & a bankrupt insurance company, and worsening health myself, I need to ask my community for support. If you know me, you know I absolutely hate asking for help for myself. If Byron wasn’t back in the hospital, I wouldn’t be asking now.

The funds I’m asking for are an estimate of what this hospital stay will cost + future testing and supplies to treat his diabetes (insulin, test strips etc, which can run $300 a month+). I don’t have an itemized bill at this time but will provide receipts when I’m able.

Anything helps. I so appreciate it. Thank you