Help my kitty battle FIP

Fundraising campaign by Orvas Anca

by Orvas Anca

Arad, ro

Links:

My 7 months old kitten was diagnosed with a deadly disease, called FIP, Feline Infectious Peritonitis with a mortality rate greater than 95%. This disease is not a common one, but the virus that provokes it is the feline coronavirus that a lot of cats have. This virus is generally overcome by the cats’ immune system, but in 5 to 10% of cases it suffers a mutation and that’s the cruel fate my kitten is going through.

Her symptoms started like a week ago. Overnight, our usual energic cat started to distance herself from us, looking for refuge in places where she could be alone. She started not to eat almost anything. and her belly seemed bigger than usual. At the time we used to think that she’s a bit overweight because God knows how much she loves eating, to the point where she would steal our other kitten’s food and try to bury it by scratching the floor in order to save it for later.

We took her to the vet, and that’s when we found out the disturbing news. I froze, and my boyfriend left the room to hide his reaction. We were presented with 3 options: boosting her immune system, an experimental treatment which costs a few thousand dollars in the long term, and putting her to sleep. The only thing we could do is pick the first option, because we couldn’t afford giving her the experimental treatment.

It was hard for us to accept that we have to reveal our financial situation to the veterinarian, but in these situations you have to be transparent. The doctor was very lenient and agreed to help us free of charge, until we have the money to pay him. We established to get her to the vet in the morning for infusions and take her in the evening, since we caouldn’t afford let her stay there during the night. Even though our veterinarian and everyone there is trying really hard, Lisa’s chances to survive were very slim on that treatment, it was a palliative one...

At the moment she eats and drinks water by herself, likes to be petted, which is uncommon for other cats in her situation. When we saw how much she’s fighting and is trying to survive, we decided to help her fight her fight.

Sleepless nights, calculations which left us terrified and the continual struggle to find a solution lead us to a hard road, but not impossible to achieve. In order for her to have higher chances of survival, we had to opt for the experimental treatment against FIP. We tried to call for help everywhere we could, but it’s not enough. A vial is 70-75$, and the treatment lasts up to 84 days. A vial ensures 3-5 days of treatment, and we cannot afford this in the longer term, not even close. We also have to do monthly blood tests and to get her pills for liver because the treatment can attack the liver.

We started the treatment, we bought some vials for $70 dollars ( 1 USD = 4 times our RON), but we don't know when our budget ends. I wasted 2 doses because I had to do the injection myself and I couldn't do it. I hate to see her crying. I had a panic attack, the liquid ended on her fur. We started because of the donors, we have to fight now! Please, help us to continue it! We managed to do so much because of them! I write this on day 5 of the treatment!

UPDATE: Right now we are on day 10 and we managed to get 24 doses out of 84, but we have a long journey ahead! We can't stop the treatment!

I almost lost hope in humanity, I spent 3 days without sleeping trying to post our story everywhere and everyone ignores us or wants money in return, even though they know we don't have any money left. I think I'll sell my jewelry and my bf is going to sell his computer, but even if we're going to do we can't afford it and there are a lot of things we need to pay too.

We need every donor that wants to help Lisa survive. We need to enjoy every moment with her! Please help an innocent soul, a kitten that looked like would live for a hundred years, to pass away so soon.

Every dollar means a lot for us! Even 1 dollar means everything! We need to have a lot of backers, thank you for your time!

Thank you so much for your time!

DONATE NOW

Day 11 & 12

Update posted by Orvas Anca On Feb 24, 2021

As you can see below, there isn' so much to say! Lisa is getting better and better and I really hope we will be able to buy the rest of the vials for 84 days. Our Lisa sleeps again like she used to when she was little!

She doesn't like the injections, when we enter the veterinary clinic she gets so scared, but it's all for the good!

I think she knows we love her so much, she's blinking slowly more and more at me!

Add a Comment

Day 9 & 10

Update posted by Orvas Anca On Feb 23, 2021

Day 9 and 10 are finally the ones with good news because we saw as lot of improvement! Lisa feels much better and seems to act almost like she did before! She plays with Sophie, we hear her running in the morning, she eats more than we do, and she talks with the birds she sees at the window. At the veterinary we were told that her tummy liquid is almost gone! As she gained strength, she also tried to bite the lady who did her injection, but no one was seriously injured! We know it hurts, but without the injections it would be tragic!

Lisa gives us the strength to continue and I sincerely hope that we don't have to stop the treatment at some point! We've come so far because of the donors and I'm sincerely so grateful!

We can't continue our journey without help so if you want to,

share our story or donate! Thanks again everyone and as always, we'll keep you updated on her condition!

Add a Comment

Day 7 & 8

Update posted by Orvas Anca On Feb 22, 2021

During these days we were very happy, because Lisa seems better and better! She plays a little, eats so much and lies next to us all the time! Sophie, our other cat, thought she can play now and she tried to jump on her, but Lisa doesn’t have the necessary strength yet. Despide all this, I think there are some really good signs for now and maybe one day Lisa’s going to win again their cat fights! Lisa shows a lot of love and wants to get pets even from me ( she always liked my boyfriend better because they had a connection since she was a baby!)She knows we love her! If only she knew how many people are rooting for her...

We finally got the blood test’ results, the next set will be in 6 weeks from now. I’ll attach here everything and if you know how to read them, you can tell me what you think! Our vet told us they are acceptable for now. We’re looking forward to what the future holds!

Add a Comment

Day 5 & 6

Update posted by Orvas Anca On Feb 17, 2021

On day 5 at 5 in the morning I tried to get Lisa out of her carrier to play with her new toys. After many attempts she finally came to me and started playing with my hair scrunchies. She ate a little, she didn’t drink water, but I tried to call her for food more often. As a good sign, she started jumping on our countertops like she used to!

On day 6 Lisa got out of her carrier multiple times and rested on our desk with her sister. She also played a little with my scrunchies again instead of the new toys we got her, as always.The blood test result came today, but our vet told us he couldn’t look up at it yet so expect the photo with the results tomorrow!

Thank you for your support! I’ll never forget that!

Add a Comment

Day 3 & 4

Update posted by Orvas Anca On Feb 16, 2021

Day 3 – This day was one with a very strong emotional charge for us, because we wasted 2 doses in my attempt to give her the shot. They both ended up on her fur in some way or another. I can’t watch her suffer, my heart breaks. After a dramatic episode we managed to urgently take her to a close by vet and he made the shot. We were very close to ending the 3rd day with losing hope in humanity after we saw that the only people willing that answered us were people that told us they’d promote us in exchange for a sum of money we obviously don’t have ( they didn’t even read our story ). People started donating and we started hoping again. During the evening, Lisa started playing again!

Day 4 – We managed to establish a treatment plan with our vet, and he also gave her the shot. Unfortunately our baby threw up 2 times ( for the first time ever in her life ), but it’s normal, because it’s one of the symptoms of the disease. She spent the entire day in her transport cage, except during the moments when she came to eat a few bites. We were told she lacks trust in us now, the shots she’s receiving hurt, badly. We are hoping for better days, and for her to understand we mean her no harm!

Add a Comment

Day 1 and 2 of treatment

Update posted by Orvas Anca On Feb 13, 2021

Day 1 – after the first shot she felt weak ( her body is probably fighting ) and slept for most of the day, but she started to eat more by herself. We were so nervous because we heard that some poor souls died after the first injection, so we kept waking her up to make sure she’s still with us. Thankfully she was fine, and she came with us in bed during the night. She likes to suckle on earlobes, she was missing her mother and got stuck with this habit.

Day 2 – Today was a hard moment for me since I had to give her the shot myself. As I never did it before, I put the needle in her twice, because the first time I did it she got scared and I thought I did something wrong and pulled it out. It was extremely stressing, that’s why we don’t have any pictures from when we gave her the shot. She started crying, it hurt me inside so much. The needle is rather thin because the treatment requires it. She eventually stopped crying after I gave her treats.

Today, February 13th, she ate 4 times so far, starting with 4AM in the morning. Sometimes more, sometimes only a few bites. She also received treats along with her soul sister. She is drinking water by herself, but not nearly as much as she used to before she got sick, so I will give her water with the syringe from now on.

A good thing is that our kitten jumps in her liter by herself, the entrance being on the top, and most importantly she started to try to bury her food again, by scratching our floor.

Although, after the shot it looks like she stopped trusting us, she spent the whole day in her transport cage…

Add a Comment