9 years ago, my partner Jaime was invited by a coworker to come meet a litter of kittens that her cat just gave birth to and see if he wanted to rescue one. Despite his cat allergy, he went to meet them and was immediately won over by a little white Siamese mix fluff playing in the litter box. He took him home and named him Jace and somehow miraculously recovered from the cat allergy. (We think it was destiny.) Jace won the hearts of his entire family, and his grandma nicknamed him “Potato” because he would just hang out in a little potato loaf position. (His many other nicknames include: Spud, Gato, Presh, Spuddy, Snoop, Gatito, and more.) Potato is quite the character and has his dad wrapped around his little toe beans. When he wants to be held or pet, he’ll change his meow to a high pitched kitten “squeak” (which works every time.) He will paw at the doorknobs when he wants into a room to remind us that although he knows how the doorknob works, he still doesn’t have thumbs. And even at 9 years old, he still sleeps in the exact same perch he’s had since he was a kitten. Every night. Right next to his dad’s side of the bed. Like a baby bassinet. Needless to say, Potato is an incredibly special creature. He has 3 other fur siblings (an 11-year-old English Bulldog rescue named Cash, a 3-year-old Ragdoll cat rescue named Gus, and a 2-year-old “we aren’t sure what she is” rescue kitty named Zoe.) We love all of our babies so tremendously, but we know you other fur parents know…there will always be that one creature who captures your heart like no one else ever can. That’s Jace and Jaime. In May 2024, Jaime noticed a bump on Potato’s side that was new and unusual. He called the vet the next day and made an appointment to have it checked out. The vet removed some tissue to have a biopsy performed, but the biopsy was inconclusive. Per the vet’s recommendation, the next step was surgery to remove the entire bump and have it sent out for biopsy. Unfortunately, the results came back as cancerous and our hearts were crushed. From there, we were referred to a veterinary oncologist who performed a CT to determine the best course of action—additional surgery or radiation treatment. Due to the cancer cells existing across the whole side of his torso, surgery was determined to not be an option as too much skin would have to be removed. (It also wouldn’t guarantee the removal of any cancer cells deeper than the surface layer.) At that point, it was determined that radiation would be the best option, and we were referred to a vet who specializes in administering radiation treatments for animals. During the consultation with this vet, we were informed that the treatment would last for 4 weeks and would consist of daily radiation treatments (5 days a week, M-F) and would cost approximately $20,000. The treatment allows cancer cells to be targeted specifically and can reach a depth of 2 cm, which wouldn’t be possible with surgery. The vet said that this treatment typically results in a positive prognosis and can extend the patient’s life by 1600 days. We aren’t ready to see our sweet Potato baby off to the Rainbow Bridge and promised him from the beginning that we would do everything in our power to get him healthy again. We know that so many of our friends and family love Potato and recognize how truly special he is. And we know that the broader community of pet parents who love their fur babies as intensely as we do completely understand what we’re going through. We so deeply appreciate any and all support in our journey to get Jace healthy again, and 100% of funds will go directly to supporting his medical bills for cancer treatment.
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