A month ago, we took our seven month old kitten, Kodlak, to the vet. He was having what we thought might be asthma attacks. The vet ran some tests and did some x-rays. It turned out what we thought were asthma attacks were coughing fits and little Kodlak had pneumonia. Our vet put him on an antibiotic for two weeks in the hopes it would clear it without the need for a very expensive test. Sadly, after two weeks Kodlak had gotten worse, not better. So we were sent to another vet to see a specialist and for Kodlak to have a procedure called a tracheal wash. Basically, they put him under anesthesia and stuck a tube down his throat. Then they pumped in sterile saline. Then they sucked out the saline, and with the saline came a sample of whatever was in his lungs.

Kodlak was diagnosed with a fungal infection called histoplasmosis. Fungal infections are not very common in cats, but Kodlak was born on a farm. Histoplasmosis comes from being exposed to bird and bat droppings, and living in a barn for the first few months of his life, Kodlak was exposed to at least one of these. Fungal infections take time to develop, and don’t usually have any symptoms until they get bad. So there was no way for us or our friend who gave him to us to know that he was infected.

Our vet bills are piling up. So far, for just this illness, we’ve spent over $2,000.00, most of which has gone on our credit card. We have at least 6 months of treatment ahead of us, including medications, subcutaneous fluids, x-rays and blood tests to make sure that the medication is not affecting Kodlak’s liver. All this will run us approximately $325.00 each month of treatment. We need help to get Kodlak the treatment he deserves. Please give whatever you can. Just $10.00 gives us enough to buy a month’s worth of steroids.