The Prize
Hello 👋🏼 Thank you so much for clicking on our Crowdfunder 🐈❤️🎨 We’re raising money to provide lifesaving FIP treatment for our beloved cat Lucifer (named after the cat in Cinderella, not the devil). To say thank you, we're offering a prize draw: one lucky person will win a bespoke pet portrait, just in time for Christmas. Entries cost £1, and every £1 counts as another entry (special offers apply £10 = 20 entries, £20 = 40 entries). Free entries are available by postcard. Read on for more info on Lucifer and the prize draw.
Lucifer’s story:
After becoming seriously unwell at the end of September, Lucifer, who is just seven years old, was diagnosed with suspected FIP (feline infectious peritonitis). He could barely walk, wasn’t eating and had lost more than 2kg. Following investigative surgery on a Friday afternoon, he was hospitalised for three days of diagnostics and put on a feeding tube.
The vet phoned the following Monday and recommended euthanasia, saying Lucifer was unlikely to survive. If left untreated, FIP is a deadly disease. However, with the correct medication – the GS antiviral drug – cats can make a full recovery. Through the vet, we could only access this drug for £5k up front, on top of an already enormous bill.
After thoroughly researching the disease and reaching out to a couple of FIP charities for information, we decided to bring him home against the vet’s advice. Lucifer was born in our house and we love him more than anything. We were not giving up without a fight.
With the help of an FIP organisation, we sourced an emergency supply of the lifesaving drugs privately and collected them from Elephant and Castle. We managed to administer Lucifer’s first injection at home within a few days of discovering his suspected FIP diagnosis.
Lucifer has now completed one month of injections and is now being given pills every day for the next two months. He has gained weight and is improving daily, but we still have a long road ahead.
Lucifer’s four-day stay at the vet cost more than £6k. We are providing images of the bill for transparency. The total shown is £5k because £1k was paid in advance.
After removing Lucifer from the first vet, we took him to an independent vet who is supervising his treatment. With regular check-ups, antibiotics and blood tests, as well as the three months of FIP treatment, we estimate that we will spend at least another £2k (a fraction of the cost quoted by vet 1) bringing the total to £8k.
We have nowhere near that amount to spare. Lucifer is our family, and if you can give anything at all, even the cost of a cup of coffee, we will be forever grateful. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Love, Hattie, Lucifer and family xxx
Past portraits:
The vet bill: