jackson heights ∴ queens ∴ nyc
Help us save Matthieu!
Matthieu needs your help! One of our dear rescues, Matthieu, has an illness that no one's been able to diagnose yet, and as a result he is racking up some hefty vet and specialist bills. If you're able to help defray these progressively mounting costs associated with his ongoing treatment you will be saving a kind, loving creature that deserves to live.
Matthieu lived a hard feral life out on the nyc streets for about 4 years, siring many litters of kittens before we were able to catch him. He was finally caught as part of a Fall 2022 TNR project.
The ASPCA rejected him for neuter at the time due to being too sick to go under anesthesia for surgery. Turned out he had an upper respiratory infection [with green mucus!] and a mouthful of rotten teeth.
So we nursed him back to health over the course of a few months, and when he was ready we took him in for his neuter plus a kitty dental at our regular vet [ASPCA doesn't do dentals and we didn't want to put him under twice in a row so quickly] . Poor snaggletooth only has one upper canine left in his mouth.
During his recuperation stay in our foster home, we noticed he was extremely friendly, sweet, and quite unafraid of humans. He would poke his paws through his enclosure's bars to play while we were sweeping. As such we think he may actually be a stray and not a feral.
It quickly became clear that Matthieu had the predisposition to be domesticated and eventually adopted. He'd had a hard enough life and would likely die outside in the next winter. With such a kind temperament and obviously raw potential we simply could not let that happen.
Everything was going great in terms of socializing and rehabilitation. Matthieu began free-roaming the shelter, comingling and integrating nicely with the other inhabitants of our foster home. He seemed poised to get adopted into a Furever Home any day now.
Then he started scratching so hard till he bled and pulling his hair out. Upon closer inspection we observed red rashes and hives on his skin. He was still semi feral so we could only examine so much in house with limited handling, especially to apply any topical aids for the extreme itching. Poor boy ended up looking like Swiss cheese with tons of little bald patches everywhere.
After taking him to the vet again in early 2023, his CBC blood work showed abnormal Eosinophils & Basophils levels. Turned out Mattie Cat was having an extreme food allergy reaction, his chin even swelled up really badly. So we put him on an exclusion diet and started testing to see which proteins he was able to eat safely. This process took a few months of trial and error.
We finally found two food proteins with limited ingredient formulation and fed him this in wet + freeze dried formulations. His fur started to grow back slowly, he was pulling his hair and scratching himself much less, the hyper drooling stopped, and during the healing process Matthieu allowed himself to be handled more and more during the course of his treatment. We discovered Mattie went gaga over being brushed and he would allow us to apply the anti-itch foam with the brush.
Through brushing and wand play Mattie would just melt, and was overall a very happy boy. Everything was looking rosy for Matthieu to be officially listed for adoption soon.
Random sidenote: the new hair that grew back was darker, apparently this is a form of temperature-sensitive albinism.
Fall arrived early, the temp dropped and Matthieu started napping more and playing less. He still had a hearty appetite and was using the litter-box normally so we didn't think much of it at the time.
Mattie's mobility progressively declined until it was obvious there was an issue. A vet tech took a look and suggested early arthritis so we treated for that for a few weeks. Instead of getting better he got worse, with full on ataxia and a head tilt to the right. Went to the vet for more blood work and other diagnostics, all came back inconclusive and we were referred to a Neurology specialist at the Animal Medical Center.
Thousands of dollars later, we're no closer to a prognosis, can't afford the $4500 that includes an MRI + several other diagnostic tests to try to figure out what is wrong with him. If you love animals and have disposable income consider helping get this guy back on his feet [literally].
We are currently palliating Matthieu for an infection or cancer, though we also have lower airway disease and cancer on our list of differentials Matthieu is eating normally, and in good spirits otherwise.
Here is a video from before his mobility issues:
And current:
On Monday, January 22nd Mattie's appetite went MIA. For a food-motivated cat on steroids [Prednisolone], this was very unusual so we took him to our vet for some blood-work on Tuesday. We got the results back Wednesday AM, & they were concerning, especially the pancreas values, so we rushed him to the AMC's ER. Once there they evaluated him, took a sonogram & determined pancreatitis. Mattie was hospitalized right away, and spent the night in the ICU.
Thanks to our quick response, he was discharged 24 hours later. We're continuing his Pancreatitis treatment at home, while also monitoring his blood glucose levels for the next few weeks. While he is responding very well to treatment, this hospitalization completely wiped out all the funds we collected for Mattie's MRI, so we will have to pivot back to that once he has recuperated more.
Looking for another way to support our rescued cats? By shopping at our Shop, you don't just get something special, you become a hero to a rescued cat. Together, let's turn meow-ments of need into purrfect forever homes.
Every purchase helps us provide food, shelter, and medical care for our furry friends.