My name is Ashle. I am raising funds to help my beloved cat Ginger. After several vet appointments and procedures, she has to go to an oral hygienist for stomatitis. Any help is greatly appreciated, no amount is too small. Please help me extend her life and health.

This is our story…

I was chosen. I stopped at a stop sign late at night noticing a white ball of fur across the street. I sat with my headlights shining waiting for it to run away to the woods. No movement. So I made my first mistake by opening my door to my vehicle and getting out. Here came running a flame siamese probably 7 or 8 months old, jumped up in my car and sat in my front seat. That was it. That was the day that i would find my best friend. She has been by my side through everything. She will put her little head against my shin and reach around to grab me with her paw in her own hugging way. Asking for help is not something I do, but I find myself in a situation that she depends on me and I have to try everything and anything within my power to do what I can. See my cat, Ginger, she is more than a mere pet. She has been my friend and comfort for the last 16 years. She saw through so many struggles. Losing jobs, moving, family losses, stress, and life in general. She is my sweet baby. And with her age comes difficulties. She developed a hematoma. She had to have surgery to repair her ear. After the hematoma, she developed several ear infections. One day, she started bleeding from the mouth. I took her to a new picayune vet (mine was on vacation). They said she had high white blood cells which is indicative of having cancer. This vet also said she has cat gingivitis. They offered to put her to sleep and i absolutely was not doing that. They basically wrote her off due to her age and having cancer. So i brought her home to live out her life. She was still so full of life. I switched her to wet cat food to try to help her gums and eating. I bought different varieties to try but my boujee friend picked fancy feast shredded. She couldn’t eat pate. I got her some senior minced and she seemed to do good with these for a while until she wasn’t. She started acting like she was choking every time she would eat. I knew something was wrong. Since the new vet didn’t want to treat her, i found a vet in poplarville to see her. I actually got her white blood count down some. They said there was a mass at the back of her throat which was probably the reason she was reacting the way she was when she was eating. This vet gave me some medicine to see if the mass would reduce in size and help increase her appetite. See her back in 2 weeks and they told me they would see if she was well enough to remove the mass. I really feel like the 2 week wait was because they didn’t expect her to live (hindsight). 2 weeks go by, i bring her in hopeful she is healthy enough to remove the mass. Im concerned the mass will grow and block eating and breathing. Vet sees her. I ask about removing the mass. To my surprise, he says he cant remove the mass, she would need to go to a specialist. He recommends a shot to give her solensia. I ask him about her ears because she is scratching. She has been on antibiotics a bit. I ask if she could have a yeast infection. He says they are probably infected but doesn’t give me any ear drops. She is home for 2 days and gets severely lethargic. I call the vet back to ask for the information for the specialist to get her mass removed from her throat. The vet is surprised and tries talking me out of it suggesting the surgery will be over $1500. I told them i want to get the consultation anyways to see what the specialist says. So i take her to medvet in mandeville. They are wonderful with my friend. I understand why the poplarville vet was hesitant. After going to the specialist, she didn’t have a mass in her throat. I am not sure why the poplarville vet lied but she has stomatitis which is causing pain when she eats. Her ears also had a fungal infection for which they gave me ear drops. The wonderful crew at medvet mandeville did a biopsy and sent it to be tested. She doesn’t have cancer. She came home and about 3 days later she got so lethargic. She stopped eating and drinking. I upset and convinced i was going to lose her. She was so weak and couldnt even hold her head up. i held her to make sure she would drink water. I started giving her cat broth and chicken baby food. I went to buy oral syringes to drip broth in her mouth. To my surprise, she started holding her head up. She would then stand with assistance. She pulled through. Next thing i know, couple days later, she is running around like nothing happened. She is now referred to South Paws oral in mandeville, la to address polyps on her gums (stomatitis). This is where yall come in. I love my friend dearly. Through the rigmarole of getting her to the right people to help, i have exhausted everything i have financially. As embarrassed as i am and as much as i hate it, i am asking for help because she deserves to be able to live out the rest of her long life. As embarrassing as it is asking for help, my friend is worth my pride being set aside. If i can do what i can to extend her life even by minutes, i will take every second i can get. I have to pay for the consultation at South Paws and the most likely recommendation will be to pull her remaining teeth (the front row she has left) and treat and heal her gums. She has so much life left to live, i just need a little help to get her there. If you have a spare dollar or two, i would appreciate any and all help. No amount is too small and is severely appreciated. If you want to donate direct to south paws, i believe this can be done also. It will be for Ginger (Ashle Thompson). I thank you for at least reading our story. 16 years ago i made a mistake, that turned out to be one of the best decisions in my life. Her orange may be fading, but her spirit is not.