Saving Sparrow - Feline Infectious Peritonitis

Hi everyone! I'm Sarah Lockenvitz, and my household includes, in addition to myself, my husband John, my kids Annika and Miles, 2 dogs, 5 cats, and a canary.

Our kitten Sparrow is one of the most recent additions to our menagerie. She is around 8 or 9 months old right now, and we acquired her from Eden Animal Haven a couple months ago. We had just lost a very special kitty to FIV a couple of weeks beforehand, and we were hoping to help fill a difficult void with new, happy life.

Sparrow was perky and rambunctious at Eden when we were selecting our new family member. She stole my heart. :) She was also quite timid, and for the first few weeks at our house, she mostly hid in our office closet as we allowed time for adjustments all around. But something wasn't quite right. I only saw her play with a toy - play at all, really - one time after she arrived at our house. She wasn't gaining weight. She did eat and drink, but declined over the course of a month or so, to the point where out of nowhere, she would cry out in presumable pain and discomfort. We brought her to the vet, and an exam and bloodwork indicated Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), a progressive and fatal condition related to an evolved cat coronavirus.

I grieved. We grieved. The next morning I made an afternoon vet appointment for compassionate euthanasia. I had contacted Eden Animal Haven, just to offer the update, and Leslie Sawyer informed me that there is in fact a treatment, and she and Robyn Batross would help us with education and access! We spoke with the vet at the appointment, and instead of leaving empty handed and mourning, we left with renewed hope and an expanded support network, as well as a still-alive Sparrow! We are also getting information and education from the FIP Global CATS group on Facebook, especially admins Nancy Ross and Bre Rickard.

Today we are at 24 days of treatment. It is working. She is a new kitten, making up for lost time, gaining weight, and playing with our other pets. I am not much on miracles, but this has made me change my tune a little bit. However, it is difficult, unpleasant for Sparrow, and pricey. So very expensive. We are looking at $2,000+ of FIP-related expenses.

Help us save Sparrow... Please consider contributing to her treatment, which goes on for a minimum of another 60 days, followed by 84 days of observation. If any complications arise at any point along the way, this could all be extended. We have our vet bills, the cost of the serum itself, and relevant supplies that would be covered by donations.

We're in this for the long haul... if we can sustain the financial momentum required. Anything helps, even thoughts and intentions... But a donation works too. We also intend to donate to Eden Animal Haven any funds contributed beyond the total for these Sparrow-related expenses. :)

Thanks for reading. We appreciate you and anything in any form you can spare for Sparrow. Thank you thank you thank you! <3