Subway Cat Determined To Use Nine Lives

Cats are said to have nine lives. Some of them - and maybe you've had one - seem determined to use them all.

Subway the cat was once rescued from the New York City subway tracks, then he settled into the good life as a pampered housecat. Around a year ago he contracted FIP, a terrifying disease that can only be addressed by an expensive, experimental and off-label treatment - one that all of you helped to finance. And thanks to you, he BEAT FIP!

Now Subby is in trouble again. I told you he was determined to use them all.

Angela and Ian, Subby's people, wanted to do some good when their cherished cat (and Subby's beloved companion) Dr. Watson passed earlier this year. They reached out to a local rescue group for help pulling an at-risk cat from the New York City shelter system, and that cat Shadow went straight to their home. They followed the isolation protocol that the rescue group had given them to the letter, but that protocol had some major flaws.

The shelters of New York City have some very, very serious and sometimes very treatment-resistant diseases floating around. These diseases are constantly re-circulating, mutating and changing, and the bacterial varieties tend to be treatment-resistant. Because the group's protocol was inadequate, Subway acquired some sort of respiratory infection from Shadow. Shadow had a mild version that resolved with some medication. Subway's infection has not.

He now has a very serious and unknown infection that escalated very rapidly. He cannot eat or drink and he coughs, retches and drools. As of yesterday his primary vet recommended immediate hospitalization and he was brought to AMC, the top speciality hospital in Manhattan, where he is receiving supportive care while they try to figure out exactly what he has. He has to be on IV fluids and medications, he may need to be tube-fed, and he's going to need at the very least a sedated exam of his upper airway.

Angela and Ian have already paid $3500 for his treatment and the estimated total cost is expected to be $7000. That's a lot. That's a lot for them, especially after having had the expenses for Subby's FIP treatment and for Watson as he declined.

And so I am asking for your help for the third time. That's a lot too, but I feel they deserve it. They were just trying to do something good and what happened here was not their fault. The rescue group only pays for Shadow’s medical costs and they don't know where to turn.

Please help us save Subby one more time.