Hello everyone,

First of all, thank you for reading this long message, but of course I’d like to explain exactly what this is all about.

My name is Anita, I’m from Upper Austria, and this is about my cat Rocky.

ROCKY was at the animal shelter with his siblings when he was still very small.

He had a very bad cold and spent many weeks alone in a cage in the quarantine ward. I was volunteering there at the time and actually fell in love with him straight away. I wanted to take him home to look after him, but I was told that wasn’t possible because he was ‘wheezing’ and was therefore contagious...

After a few weeks, he was taken to the vet again.

They then said he had holes in his nasal septum and that was just how it was with the wheezing, and there was nothing that could be done about it...

I quickly took him home shortly afterwards because I didn’t want someone to take him who might find it “quite cute” at first that he makes these noises, but who would then get annoyed in the long run when they wanted to watch TV in peace or something.

I have to say that he actually makes these noises all the time, except when he’s completely relaxed or fast asleep. And it’s really loud. When I’m sitting on the sofa, I can hear him when he’s one floor below in the stairwell, when he comes home...

He’s been with me since January 2022 and is enjoying life to the full. The only issue is his breathing. He just has to breathe through his mouth all the time. And he often finds it quite difficult to fall asleep. It gets particularly bad when it’s quite hot, when he’s exerting himself a lot, or when he’s very excited.

As it has generally got worse recently – meaning he’s finding it harder to breathe and wheezing even louder than before – I took him to the vet last week.

The vet referred me to the veterinary hospital.

They did a CT scan there today.

It’s not as I was told; his nose is virtually blocked at the front, so hardly any air gets through. He also has pus in his frontal sinus.

He needs an operation now. They’ll lift the nasal septum and ‘clear out’ his nose. If that doesn’t help, he’ll probably have a hole made in his nasal septum so he can breathe properly again.

Without the operation, his condition will continue to worsen.

I’m hoping to find kind-hearted people through this post who can help me with the surgery costs for my cat Rocky.