Tag: cats

Trouble’s Medical Debt: the First Half of May 2023 Update

Pets

During the first two weeks of May, Trouble’s medical debt has gotten $31.90 in support from you guys through donations to her GoFundMe, as well as tips using my StreamElements link.

I want to thank all of you for the support so far, as well as ask you to help me raise that number. Remember, if we can get to $50, Frankie’s Friends, a pet helper charity that I support, will get 10% of the donation total (they’re currently at 5%). The more we can raise, the larger a percentage they’ll get!

If you’d like to add to the donations for this month, I’ll be streaming tonight (Marvel Puzzle Quest at 9:00, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at 11:00). You can also always donate to Trouble’s GoFundMe.

Otherwise, come hang out with me and Trouble! 🐈Tonight, starting at 9 PM!

Fundraising For Trouble’s Medical Debt Will Include a Special Charity Donation

Pets

I wanted to revisit this and convey my biggest, unending thanks to everyone who donated to relieve Trouble’s medical expenses. Because of your amazing generosity, we were able to blast away a full 20% of a very hefty hospital (now credit card) bill on the first payment. Trouble and I are both humbled and grateful for your support, and will never forget it.

Going forward, I’m going to leave the door open for further donations, with a slight change.

Every month, upon meeting certain donation thresholds, I will donate a percentage to Frankie’s Friends, an organization that helps pet owners whose pets are acutely in need of lifesaving medical care. This is my way of paying the generosity you’ve shown me forward to other pet owners who may find themselves in a similar situation to the one Trouble and I were in a couple months ago.

Donation thresholds and percentages will be as follows:

  • $20 —> 5% ($1 minimum donation)
  • $50 —> 10% ($5 minimum donation)
  • $100 —> 20% ($20 minimum donation)
  • $250 —> 30% ($75 minimum donation)
  • $500 —> 40% ($200 minimum donation)
  • $1,000 —> 50% ($500 minimum donation)

As an example, in April, Trouble’s GoFundMe received $60 in donations. I will therefore be donating $6 to Frankie’s Friends this month.

This is all voluntary and low pressure. While this expense is both sudden and large, I should be able to more or less manage it. Any further donations will go towards paying down the principal and hopefully reducing the monthly minimum payments and knocking this debt out as soon as possible.

I will post monthly updates on where the overall debt is, how much was donated in a given month, and how much was in turn donated to Frankie’s Friends. If you’d like to help me, as well as other pet owners in sudden need, there are several great ways:

Again, thanks for your support in helping me fight for my kitty baby. And thanks for any future support any of you can manage as I try hard to slay this formidable debt beast.

Trouble’s 5-Year Birthday Stream Is This Sunday!!!

Pets, YouTube

This Sunday night, I’ll be holding a birthday stream for Trouble, who is now 5 years old. The goal will be to spoil her with attention, love, and treats while simultaneously raising some funds to help pay off her medical debt.

I’ll have her on camera during the stream, where people will be able to say hello, have me interact with her in various ways, and hear some stories about why I love this little furry orange demon so damn much.

Also, I am no longer raising money just for Trouble’s medical debt.

Starting with this stream, I will be pledging a percentage of the total donations made during the stream to Frankie’s Friends, an organization that helps save pets in need of lifesaving medical and/or veterinary care. For every donation made, either to Trouble’s GoFundMe or via Paypal Donations, I will donate to Frankie’s Friends at the following rates:

$20: 5% ($1 at threshold)
$100: 10% ($10 at threshold)
$250: 20% ($50 at threshold)
$500: 30% ($150 at threshold)
$750: 40% ($300 at threshold)
$1,000: 50% ($500 at threshold)

I’m doing this because I felt so supported and nurtured and humbled by everyone during the Trouble Watch, and I wanted to figure out a way to give back and possibly help out any future pet owners. While the medical debt payments are a pain, I **think** I’m able to handle them, so anything you donate will be going to cover paying down the interest on it, and if your generosity helps me both pay down the debt faster AND donate to a worthy pet friendly organization, then I think we all win here. 😻

Tune in Sunday night, April 30, 8 PM central, at this link

Trouble’s 5-Year, “How It Started/How It’s Going” Picture

Pets

This is about the time of year we start getting Trouble’s kitten pics, and this is the earliest known one. I’ve really grown to love this kitty, as quite a few of you already probably know.

This year has already been trying, for both Trouble and myself, but we both pulled through with help from you guys, from my friends, family, and co-workers. So this occasion feels extra special. Trouble is now 5 years old, and she’s the best furry little orange demon a cat dad could ask for.

I’d like to do some form of birthday stream for her on our around May 1, but I’m still coming up with ways to celebrate, so hit me up with ideas about what we could do. In the meantime, enjoy this extra special “how it started/how it’s going” pic of our favorite queen. 😻🐕😺👑

My Cat Nearly Died Recently. Here’s What I Learned About Myself During That Time.

Pets, YouTube

This is Trouble. She will be 5 years old next month.

She’s my cat, and she has on many occasions, lived up to her name. These days, she spends most of her time hanging out with me when I’m around. She likes to curl up in my lap, to rest her head on my hands, and even sleeps against me in bed. To say I love this furry orange kitty is the pinnacle of understatement.

Recently, she was diagnosed with a perforated bowel, and nearly died. I was a mess during that time, which I’ve since termed the Trouble Watch.

Thankfully, she’s come through her surgeries with a clean bill of health, and is back to being a full-time cat again, with no movement restrictions, no need for medication, and no need for anymore surgeries. She’s still got some shaved sections of her coat to grow back, but otherwise is healthy, active, and back to being her former mischievous self. And even with a big medical bill to pay off, I am overjoyed to have her back.

The Trouble Watch started on Wednesday, February 22, and lasted until Sunday, March 19. It was a tumultuous time for me emotionally, as I dealt with the ups, downs, complications, and the uncertainty that came with the possibility that my beloved cat might actually die. I fought like hell throughout the entire time, determined to keep her alive. Some days I came home exhausted and scared; other times I just wanted all the lack of clarity to go away.

You learn some things about yourself when you have to deal with the possibility of a loved one dying, and the Trouble Watch illuminated a few things about myself that I hadn’t previously realized. Here are a few things I learned while trying to save my kitty.

  1. I’ll Go to Great Lengths for a Loved One.
    I’ve lost pets before, and grieved for them, but during the Trouble Watch I had an active role to play. I was able to make a difference, and I reached down inside me and fought like I’d never fought before. Trouble was less than five years old, and I couldn’t let her die so young if I could save her. So I put down the financing for her (very large) medical care. I listened to the hospital staff and doctors. I drove 40 miles across town, every day, to visit her and let her know I hadn’t abandoned her.

    And Trouble responded. She fought for her life, and was a strong, brave, well-behaved patient. To this day, I’m so proud of her. She kept alert, bright eyed, and energetic when many cats in her condition would have gone septic quickly and died. Trouble was fighting to come back to me, and as long as she fought, I would never stop fighting, either. That’s part of the reason I started Trouble’s GoFundMe, in addition to everything else.

  2. Making Videos Is Therapeutic for Me.
    One of the first things I did after having Trouble hospitalized was to make a video explaining the situation. It took me a little time, but the act of recording and editing a video in which I got to talk about this crisis was really good for me. Using my creative muscles to confront a developing and uncertain event really helped me to process and rationalize it.

    This is a far cry from when I first started trying to make videos, and nearly quit when the editing process proved so cumbersome. I’m glad I’ve come so far, and hope to continue developing my creative skills with YouTube and video creation.
  1. Pet Insurance Is… Probably Not a Bad Idea.
    I’ve always wondered why pet insurance isn’t a more common part of career compensation packages, but after the Trouble Watch, I’m actively searching for a program under which I can insure Trouble. Medical bills for pets are ridiculously expensive, and the burden of those high costs can be mitigated if you have pet insurance. It’s not exactly cheap, but it’s not bank-breaking either, and frankly the peace of mind pet insurance can afford you may be worth it.

    In Trouble’s case, I want to protect her as much as possible, so I’m looking into pet insurance for her. She’s worth it.

  2. I CAN Make Content Every Day, If I Try.
    This was one of the tougher pieces of truth to digest.

    At a certain point of the Trouble Watch, I just started posting updates on Trouble’s condition: on my YouTube Community page, my Instagram, and other social media. It may not have always been video content, but I did have things to say, and made it my business to make sure they got put out into the world. I came to realize: I have it in me to make content on a consistent basis, even with a full-time job and other things going on.

    So now I need to put out a more consistent volume of content, even when I’m not in crisis. Content creation can happen daily, even if it isn’t video uploads. I will be trying to do one of the following things on a daily basis: upload a video; broadcast a live stream; write an article, blog post, or YT update, with accompanying photo or picture; upload a short-form video; or even Tweet out a short musing.

  3. Having an Amazing and Supportive Community Around Me Is Wonderful.
    I mentioned earlier that the Trouble Watch was a tumultuous time for me emotionally, and while I hope never to have to experience something like it again, there came with it a BIG silver lining: my community. It is one thing to understand how a good community helps creators, but to experience it during a crisis enhances it by an order of magnitude.

    I’ve cultivated a small but dedicated following of viewers during my time on YouTube, and when I made the situation with Trouble known, the outpouring of support was incredible, and really helped keep me afloat at a time when I really needed it. Be it from viewers, fellow YouTubers, or other content creators in my circle, you guys kept me going with supportive words, donations, and signal boosting, and helped me stay hopeful for Trouble, even as the situation threatened to bring me down.

    To all of you in my extended community: my viewers, followers, subscribers, and so many more: please allow me to extend my deepest thanks, on behalf of both myself and Trouble. You guys are beyond awesome, and we are both extremely grateful to have you in our lives.
The first video in my Trouble Watch playlist on my YouTube channel, when at first I was told she had parvo.

If you’re not familiar with the Trouble Watch saga, you can see all the videos, live streams, and Shorts I made about it right here in this playlist. Thank you so much!

Remembering Cowboy (2003-2016)

Loss, Pets

I was going to write a post today about how relatively little blogging I seem to getting accomplished, even though I’m writing at a better clip than I have in some time, but I just found out this morning that one of our cats passed away, so that little trip down Obvious Lane is going to have to wait.

Cowboy was not a cat with whom I got along with at first.  That’s rare, as I’m generally a love-all-cats kind of person.  He always seemed to have it in for one of my other cats, Sirius, who like him, was a black cat, but she was smaller and less social than the other animals in the house.  Often I would hear Sirius’s shrill yowl from across the house, and I would come onto the scene to find Sirius hissing and growling at Cowboy, who would tower over her.

As time went on, I eventually got to the point where I stopped trying to protect Sirius from Cowboy and told her to get over her antisocial instincts.  This gave me the chance to get to know Cowboy on his own terms, and I’m glad for it.

Cowboy was one of the most chill cats I had ever gotten to know.  He was perfectly capable of taking care of himself–and for the most part, did–but he was also very affectionate.  Whenever I would return home, be it from work, or errands, or whatever the last couple of years, he would always be on the porch, and almost always come out silently and affectionately demand pets and rubs from the human in the car.  It got to the point where I would most refer to him as Cowbs, or even The Snuggle Beast, as he was a pretty big guy and would let you pet him for hours if you wanted.

A couple days ago, Cowboy seemed to be missing.  He hadn’t shown up for the morning feeding like our other cats, and until that evening, no one had seen him.  I was told about it, and was watching for him as I was on my way home.  I just happened to see an animal crossing the street (yay glowing animal eyes in headlights), and as I got closer, recognized it to be Cowboy.  I called out to him, and he responded, but he seemed very lethargic.  He walked under my car (in the middle of the road, the screwball) and laid there for a few minutes, until a friend who was with me coaxed him out, and we brought him home.

From that point on, I was worried about him.  He was not responding as he normally did to petting, he wasn’t eating much, and not moving around.  I knew that this was not good.

We resolved to take him to the vet this morning, but unfortunately he beat us to the punch, and passed on before we were up.

I suspect of course that he knew this was coming, as I’ve had cats that have done the running away to be alone when dying thing, but I’m glad I happened along to find him before he could do that.  I’m glad he was able to spend his remaining hours with his family, surrounded by people who loved him and offered him food, water, snuggles, and affection, even if he may not have been enthusiastic for them in his condition.  And I’m glad I got over my own initial impressions of him as a bully cat and came to know him as the Snuggle Beast.  That is how I will remember him.

Goodbye Cowbs, you wonderful Snuggle Beast.  You will be missed.