[signal boost] Buddy in need! Please put up the Catsignal!

Let me introduce you a darling cat named Ash, better known to his friends as Buddy. Buddy and his sister Rowan (aka Girlie) were born in our household in 2009.


Here's Buddy! (This is the only recent pic I had of him, with his famous "OMG!ANXIOUS" expression.)

Ever since he was little, Buddy has been incredibly anxious. Loud noises make him jump. If you reach to pet him, and he doesn't see you coming, he freaks out. Lots of things make him freak out, honestly. Many people, including our own household, commented that he acted like an abused cat... except we have raised him literally from the moment his Mama birthed him into our housemate's hand, and he and his sister have always been treated with love and care. I have an anxiety disorder myself, and I recognize the signs of a panic attack, even in an animal. His eyes dialate, his breathing sharpens, and he looks for somewhere to hide -- and if he can't, he flails and screeches wildly. It's heartbreaking.

But above and beyond that, Buddy has a bigger problem. One of Buddy's anxiety triggers? Is the litter box. We have tried many things. We've tried moving the litter box, dedicated litter box, different litters... if you can think it, we have tried it. *

Three months ago, a lot of crap happened; the details of which are not relevant. The end result is that our former housemate, Paul, moved out, and with him went Buddy and Girlie, who had bonded to him and truthfully did not get along well with our other cats. We hoped that Buddy's litter box issues would get better being away from our other cats, some of whom are, well, a little hostile.

However, this has not been the case. In fact, it has gotten worse. Paul has been trying in vain to litter train Buddy. Currently, Paul is living with two roommates who are losing patience (and I truthfully cannot blame them) with a cat who is not litter box trained and is putting their apt housing at risk (plus, cat pee just plain stinks). Paul has been trying to train Buddy, but it's not working -- anything that means Buddy has to get close to a litter box means that Buddy freaks out. Paul has been forced to put Buddy in a kennel with a litter pan when he has had to leave the apt, and Buddy freaked out so badly that he tore up his nose to the point it looks like it will scar.

Buddy does not have a lot of time. He needs help, and he needs it now. Paul's roommates have been trying to be patient, but it has been close to three months now, and no progress has been made. Paul's roommates have said that if Buddy's behavior doesn't improve -- soon -- that he will have to rehome him.

Buddy is four years old this summer. He's a gorgeous cat who is, when he's not having panic attacks, cuddly and sweet and darling. Even more than that, Paul is disabled and Buddy is his emotional support and service animal. (I have personally witnessed Buddy pulling Paul's bag of medications to him when he has been in so much pain that he cannot move. Paul's quality of life would be greatly diminished without Buddy in it.)

Even more than that, it would be nearly impossible to rehome Buddy. A four year old cat who can't use a litter box? Local no-kill shelters are filled to the brim, and there is virtually no way he would get a placement. Plus, he is absolutely devoted to his sister; the two are nearly inseparable. It would destroy the both of them.

The reason I am writing this is because Paul is disabled and waiting on the judgement of his disability hearing, which took place in early November. It could be several months before he finds out whether he has been approved, plus the time from judgement to when they actually pay out. Buddy does not have that time.

Friends of mine know that there is some not-so-great history between Paul and myself; for those that know the details, I ask you to put that aside for Buddy's sake. Because of Buddy's litter box issues (and the fact that we are now fostering 2 cats and cannot handle a 7 cat household when we are already dealing with territory battles), we cannot take him or Girlie back if Paul isn't able to get him help.

Paul is living on a $200/mo stipend from the state. He can't afford to take Buddy to a vet, which I estimate will be at least $200-300 for the vet visit, testing, and medication (based on what I had to pay for Ebony's elder care, tests, and arthritis diagnosis/medications; it could possibly be more, depending on what all they need to do). Paul does not qualify for CareCredit so any vet bills must be paid up front and in full. (This is also not counting cost of transportation, which is an issue as Paul does not have reliable transport.)

Paul's PayPal is p.a.pierce@gmail.com. If you have a buck or five or ten or anything and can spare it, I ask you to consider it. Buddy is one of the sweetest cats I have ever known, and it is not his fault that he has anxiety issues. Even aside from the fact that his housing (and by extension, his life) is at risk, he shouldn't have to live with daily anxiety like this. I remember what it was like for me before I got medication, and I would not wish that on anyone, let alone a poor innocent kitty.

If you aren't able to donate (and even if you are), please signal boost this far and wide. Buddy's life and well-being depends on it. I have great faith in the LJ/DW Catsignal! <3

* (Please no suggestions. We have done a great deal of research and tried just about every non-drug, non-vet option available. The intent is appreciated but I hope you understand why hearing suggestions of things we have already done would be frustrating!)

[signal boost] Buddy in need! Please put up the Catsignal!

Let me introduce you a darling cat named Ash, better known to his friends as Buddy. Buddy and his sister Rowan (aka Girlie) were born in our household in 2009.


Here's Buddy! (This is the only recent pic I had of him, with his famous "OMG!ANXIOUS" expression.)

Ever since he was little, Buddy has been incredibly anxious. Loud noises make him jump. If you reach to pet him, and he doesn't see you coming, he freaks out. Lots of things make him freak out, honestly. Many people, including our own household, commented that he acted like an abused cat... except we have raised him literally from the moment his Mama birthed him into our housemate's hand, and he and his sister have always been treated with love and care. I have an anxiety disorder myself, and I recognize the signs of a panic attack, even in an animal. His eyes dialate, his breathing sharpens, and he looks for somewhere to hide -- and if he can't, he flails and screeches wildly. It's heartbreaking.

But above and beyond that, Buddy has a bigger problem. One of Buddy's anxiety triggers? Is the litter box. We have tried many things. We've tried moving the litter box, dedicated litter box, different litters... if you can think it, we have tried it. *

Three months ago, a lot of crap happened; the details of which are not relevant. The end result is that our former housemate, Paul, moved out, and with him went Buddy and Girlie, who had bonded to him and truthfully did not get along well with our other cats. We hoped that Buddy's litter box issues would get better being away from our other cats, some of whom are, well, a little hostile.

However, this has not been the case. In fact, it has gotten worse. Paul has been trying in vain to litter train Buddy. Currently, Paul is living with two roommates who are losing patience (and I truthfully cannot blame them) with a cat who is not litter box trained and is putting their apt housing at risk (plus, cat pee just plain stinks). Paul has been trying to train Buddy, but it's not working -- anything that means Buddy has to get close to a litter box means that Buddy freaks out. Paul has been forced to put Buddy in a kennel with a litter pan when he has had to leave the apt, and Buddy freaked out so badly that he tore up his nose to the point it looks like it will scar.

Buddy does not have a lot of time. He needs help, and he needs it now. Paul's roommates have been trying to be patient, but it has been close to three months now, and no progress has been made. Paul's roommates have said that if Buddy's behavior doesn't improve -- soon -- that he will have to rehome him.

Buddy is four years old this summer. He's a gorgeous cat who is, when he's not having panic attacks, cuddly and sweet and darling. Even more than that, Paul is disabled and Buddy is his emotional support and service animal. (I have personally witnessed Buddy pulling Paul's bag of medications to him when he has been in so much pain that he cannot move. Paul's quality of life would be greatly diminished without Buddy in it.)

Even more than that, it would be nearly impossible to rehome Buddy. A four year old cat who can't use a litter box? Local no-kill shelters are filled to the brim, and there is virtually no way he would get a placement. Plus, he is absolutely devoted to his sister; the two are nearly inseparable. It would destroy the both of them.

The reason I am writing this is because Paul is disabled and waiting on the judgement of his disability hearing, which took place in early November. It could be several months before he finds out whether he has been approved, plus the time from judgement to when they actually pay out. Buddy does not have that time.

Friends of mine know that there is some not-so-great history between Paul and myself; for those that know the details, I ask you to put that aside for Buddy's sake. Because of Buddy's litter box issues (and the fact that we are now fostering 2 cats and cannot handle a 7 cat household when we are already dealing with territory battles), we cannot take him or Girlie back if Paul isn't able to get him help.

Paul is living on a $200/mo stipend from the state. He can't afford to take Buddy to a vet, which I estimate will be at least $200-300 for the vet visit, testing, and medication (based on what I had to pay for Ebony's elder care, tests, and arthritis diagnosis/medications; it could possibly be more, depending on what all they need to do). Paul does not qualify for CareCredit so any vet bills must be paid up front and in full. (This is also not counting cost of transportation, which is an issue as Paul does not have reliable transport.)

Paul's PayPal is p.a.pierce@gmail.com. If you have a buck or five or ten or anything and can spare it, I ask you to consider it. Buddy is one of the sweetest cats I have ever known, and it is not his fault that he has anxiety issues. Even aside from the fact that his housing (and by extension, his life) is at risk, he shouldn't have to live with daily anxiety like this. I remember what it was like for me before I got medication, and I would not wish that on anyone, let alone a poor innocent kitty.

If you aren't able to donate (and even if you are), please signal boost this far and wide. Buddy's life and well-being depends on it. I have great faith in the LJ/DW Catsignal! <3

* (Please no suggestions. We have done a great deal of research and tried just about every non-drug, non-vet option available. The intent is appreciated but I hope you understand why hearing suggestions of things we have already done would be frustrating!)


This entry was originally posted at http://nonny.dreamwidth.org/494771.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

[signal boost] Simplified version of the Catsignal, thanks to Subluxate

This is Ash, better known as Buddy, being held by nonny. Buddy is an anxious cat who has panic attacks. One of his triggers is the litter box. He can't use them. Therefore, he urinates and defecates elsewhere. This is creating problems, as can be expected, in his person's living situation. His person, Paul, lives on $200 a month in an apartment with two other people. Buddy is Paul's service animal; he's done things like bring Paul his bag of medication. Buddy is also tightly bonded to his sister, Girlie, and they cannot be separated. Paul can't afford to take Buddy to a vet, get him diagnosed as anxious, and started on medication to try to work on the litterbox issue without help. Because of his income, he doesn't qualify for Care Credit, and most vets don't do payment plans. If you can donate, Paul's PayPal account is p.a.pierce@gmail.com. If you want more information on the situation, nonny has a post about it.

[signal boost] Simplified version of the Catsignal, thanks to Subluxate

This is Ash, better known as Buddy, being held by elialshadowpine. Buddy is an anxious cat who has panic attacks. One of his triggers is the litter box. He can't use them. Therefore, he urinates and defecates elsewhere. This is creating problems, as can be expected, in his person's living situation. His person, Paul, lives on $200 a month in an apartment with two other people. Buddy is Paul's service animal; he's done things like bring Paul his bag of medication. Buddy is also tightly bonded to his sister, Girlie, and they cannot be separated. Paul can't afford to take Buddy to a vet, get him diagnosed as anxious, and started on medication to try to work on the litterbox issue without help. Because of his income, he doesn't qualify for Care Credit, and most vets don't do payment plans. If you can donate, Paul's PayPal account is p.a.pierce@gmail.com. If you want more information on the situation, elialshadowpine has a post about it.