My Nonprofit Reviews

I first heard about For The Love of Alex in 2013. I have always loved animals and was amazed at Elizabeth's (or as I called her, Alex's mom) tireless work to help animals all over the country, which healed many human hearts, as they didn't have to face the loss of their beloved fur baby. I donated whenever I was able and was glad to be an Alex's Angel. Last July, after a strong thunderstorm in our small town, a little yellow kitten appeared on our porch and decided that my daughter and I were his "people". We gave him some dog food as we were also the proud " people " of two mini dachshunds, and that was all he needed to just follow the dogs through the dog door and right into our hearts. As I hadn't had a cat in over 14 years, I reached out to Elizabeth for any information she could give us to best care for this little guy and she was amazed at how much he looked like her Tiny. I kept her updated with pictures and she answered any questions I had about how to keep our Finnian happy and healthy. Early this year I was greatly saddened to hear of Elizabeth's passing, but was happy to hear that her board of directors were committed to continue the work she had started, never thinking that I would soon need the help of this amazing organization.
Early this month we noticed that Finn was becoming lethargic, not eating well and just not being his normal exhuberant self. On Sunday, July 8th, we discovered him hiding behind the couch, and when we got him out, he was unable to walk without falling over! We immediately headed to Veterinary Emergency Services in Verona, Va, 30 minutes from our home. After being examined thoroughly, Finn was diagnosed as being blind, with possible swelling in his brain and we were told that he needed to go to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Virginia Tech as soon as possible. I had recently had knee surgery and was off work for several months, so we knew that financially we would not be able to pay for the care he would need there. While waiting for the discharge instructions, I reached out to For The Love of Alex, imploring them for any help they could provide. Within an hour we were told that Finn would be funded for any care that he needed so we headed for Blacksburg, 2 1/2 hours away.
Upon arrival, Finn was taken to the intensive care section of the small animal clinic and evaluated by Dr Hyeon Jeong, and we were given a plan of action. Finn would be admitted and an MRI and spinal tap were scheduled for the next day. Dr Jeong alleviated many of our fears, just because he was determined to discover what was wrong with our cat. So we left him there and headed home. We were called that night with a report on how Finn was doing and then received a call early the next morning from Dr Richard Shinn the Neurology Resident. He was concerned that Finn could possibly have FIP, which is fatal in 95% of cases, so we spent the day worried about whether Finn would ever be well again. Dr Shinn called multiple times that day, giving us updates after each test and confirming that we approved for each consecutive test that he needed. I was able to say yes, to each request because I knew that For The Love of Alex was behind me financially and were committeed to helping us bring our kitty home. It was with immense relief and gratitude that I took the last call that day giving us his diagnosis. He did not have FIP. He was suffering from a cryptococcal fungus infection in his central nervous system and it had caused his brain to swell and impair his vision and also his ability to walk. His prognosis is fair to good according to Dr Shinn, and he may need to be on anti-fungal medicine the rest of his life, but we are so grateful that he will have " a life". We can never thank For The Love Of Alex enough for that life. We still have our amazing Finn and we are immensely thankful.