Happy 15th birthday to my beautiful, naughty, old, toothless, brown tabby, Charlie! AKA Char-bear, Gummy Bear, Charlie Bell, Big Boy, and Daddy Warbucks Chest.

14 years ago this month, I had just moved to Chicago to attend Columbia College. One day I realized I could now get a pet, as I lived in an apartment and not a dorm. I went around to a couple shelters. I saw Charlie in a glass cage, next to a beautiful, fluffy, beige kitty who was sleeping in her litter box. I left.

I went back the next day, and the beautiful girl was gone. Charlie bonked his head against the glass, hard. He wanted to head butt me. I asked to see him, but they said they didn’t take any cats out of their cages (weird??). His tag said he was 11 months old. I adopted him. He was my first kitty ever. He was a naughty, naughty boy. He still is. I love him. Sometimes, I think he loves me too.

For the past few weeks, I have been watching Oscar daily, monitoring his habits and behavior. Recently, he started to refuse food, eat less and  become more picky, all while acting extremely hungry. His energy levels have gone up and down, and he has suffered from a small amount of vomiting over the past few days. I also thought his stomach felt hard, but I wasn’t sure.

I had made a few vet appointments, all of which I had to cancel because 1) he wasn’t acting very sick and usually began eating great by the time the day of his appointment would arrive, and 2) money, of course.

I finally took him to the vet yesterday. It feels great to start to get some answers. Unfortunately, it cost just over a weeks pay just for the blood work and x-rays.

The blood work will come back with more answers tomorrow. Until then, all we have to go on is a an x-ray that shows a large mass pushing on his liver, kidneys, and part of his stomach. From the looks of it, he has been acting so hungry–but not eating much–because less food can fit into his narrowed stomach passage due to this mass. His stomach itself has room for food, making him feel hungry, but the entry to his stomach appears to be getting pushed and curved.

Oscar may be 14, but he’s a young 14. Many, many cats live to 19 and 20, even with health issues, meds, and surgery. If he were older or sicker, I might not be writing this at all; I’d be accepting what is happening and preparing mentally. However, despite this mystery mass, which I saw myself and can say is quite large, he is still acting pretty normal. He still jumps up onto the bed to cuddle and purr. He still comes to the kitchen at feeding times and grooms when he’s finished. He still enjoys looking out the window at the birdies and the squirrels. His coat, which has always been a good indicator of his health, is at about 90%, still soft and smooth. At the vet, he purred, looked around curiously, and happily licked up the cheese they offered him.

That is why I am going to try to help him if removal of the mass is an option. If I can raise a bit of funds for it through friends, family, and the network of wonderful pet lovers I’ve met while working on GoFetchGifts.com, it could mean getting help for Oscar versus letting his body deal with the mass on its own and seeing what happens as he slowly suffers from nutrition loss. He is currently eating small amounts of very nutritious food, vitamins, and salmon oil with omegas, but every day I worry if this will be the day he stops eating at all.

I will keep this blog updated on Oscar’s progress. In the meantime, please consider helping me help Oscar with a small donation of whatever you can spare today using the secure form below. I will keep a running total here of how much, if any, we raise for his care.

Like many, we live paycheck to paycheck. Some weeks are better than others. We are lucky enough to have jobs at this time, but not lucky enough to have much left over or in savings. GoFetchGifts.com is new and is not yet profitable, but I work hard on it as often as I have time to, as well as on my blogs here and at the Akron Beacon Journal’s pets.ohio.com and my Cleveland Pet Products page at Examiner.com. I pray that one day, all that work will help me provide everything that my pets may need in times such as this, and enough that I can give more to other pets in need, as I have in the past.

Other ways you can help Oscar:

• Purchase something for yourself, for your own pet, or a pet lover at GoFetchGifts.com. At this time, any potential profit will go to Oscar’s care.
• Simply view my articles at examiner.com. Consider subscribing or clicking on an ad while you’re there. I make a few cents each time someone reads one of my posts!

Oscar was found 13 years ago in an alley in Chicago, dirty, cold, skinny, and crying to me for food. He looked a lot worse then than he looks today and he has lived a very lovely life. I hope to spare him from as much pain as possible while he still appears healthy enough to fight back.

(The donate button will take you to PayPal. If you don’t have a PayPal account, just look for the link on the left that says, “Don’t Have A PayPal Account?” and click continue. Thank you!)

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Current Goal: $500
Donated so far: [donatetotal] + $100 check + 1 store order. Thank you all so much!

I took this cute video of Oscar today.