08/31/2026
🐾 A heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you who donated, read and shared Calypso’s journey. She is alive today because of YOU!
I wanted to hop on tonight and personally thank everyone who has donated and shared Calypso’s story to help us raise money for her treatment this weekend. I also want to personally thank those of you who saw our desperation Friday night and started calling clinics and vet friends of your own begging for help on our behalf. You truly have no idea what this rally has meant to me personally and to every volunteer on our team. You gave us hope when we had none. You rallied and YOU are the reason Calypso is alive and with us tonight!
We knew things were bad before we got her bloodwork back. We had already trialed antivirals and antibiotics on her for a week and nothing was helping. Once we saw her full bloodwork, we knew her only chance of survival was to receive an immediate blood transfusion. I personally called over 20 clinics Friday and was repeatedly told, “No, sorry,” or, “Our blood bank is empty,” or quoted a minimum of $3,000 just to be seen. It broke me. It literally broke me.
It’s hard to explain what it’s like to hold a living being with only hours to live in your arms, know that a treatment is out there, but not be able to financially access it. There were lots of tears—first from anger and then from sadness. When personal networking and Googling failed, I resorted to asking ChatGPT to find me funding at 1 a.m. I was still texting the grant writer for St. Francis at 2 a.m. I wasn’t giving up, but it felt hopeless.
Those of you who have met me in person know I’m generally all business. Get in. Get out. Get things done. I’m organized. I’m calculated. I’m frank. I’m honest. I have high expectations. I don’t take “no” well. I will work to my own detriment to find a “yes.”
Don’t tell me a cat is untrappable. I’ll get that sucker in three days if you follow my directions. Don’t tell me a baby’s eye can’t be saved. I’ll find a specialist to help me save it. Don’t tell me a neonate is just too small. Those are no’s. I don’t like no’s!
And therefore Hail Marys were thrown first thing Saturday morning. We had to find funding or we had to schedule humane euthanasia. Those were the only two options.
Susie was the first to personally pledge $500 on our page. That was the catalyst. Then EARS Englewood Animal Rescue Sanctuary pledged $1,000. And then St. Francis Animal Rescue, Venice FL said, “You found half, we’ll find half.” We were finally getting somewhere!
And then it happened—our miracle.
I had talked to Harmony Vet Care on Friday. At the time, they did not have blood available, but like with every other clinic, I forwarded them Calypso’s bloodwork and asked that they please call me if anything changed.
In the meantime, Samantha with Fox Foster Kittens was tagged in our post by one of you. Little did we know that she had the personal number of Dr. Sabshin, the founder of Harmony Vet Care. At her request, Dr. Sabshin reviewed Calypso’s bloodwork without our knowledge and immediately asked her technician, Erica, to call us.
I was in the shower preparing myself for a euthanasia appointment when Erica called. She called, called, and called again until I saw her voicemail:
“We have a donor! How soon can you be here?”
Fast, Girl. FAST.
Speeding ticket or no ticket, I’d be there fast.
St. Francis called ahead to pay the deposit and the team at Harmony harvested the donor blood from a patient already there under anesthesia while I was driving Calypso to their clinic in Brandon.
When we arrived, the staff greeted us with hopeful, reassuring smiles and whisked Calypso right to the back. Within minutes, she began receiving her life-saving transfusion.
Four hours later, I got a personal video message from Dr. Sabshin of Calypso making biscuits in the clinic with a simple “Someone is feeling better ❤️” attached.
My heart nearly exploded with relief.
Calypso still has a big battle ahead of her. We are not going to minimize that whatsoever. As we have stated, the transfusion was a Band-Aid. It was not a fix, but it is the ONLY reason I’m still holding Calypso on my chest tonight.
To Susie, who made the first pledge: Thank you!
To EARS—Englewood Animal Rescue Sanctuary—who made the second pledge: Thank you!
To Amy with St. Francis, who always fights beside me: Thank you!
To everyone who shared our posts: Thank you!
To Samantha with Fox Foster Kittens: Thank you!
To Dr. Sabshin, Dr. Cole, and the entire team at Harmony: Thank you!
To Harmony’s donors, grant givers, and wishlist buyers: Thank you for allowing Harmony to provide low-cost, high-quality vet care to their community!
To Rachel, Michelle, Debbie, Kris, Lisa, Helen, Deb, Michele, and all of our supporters who have supported us through our Wishlists and GoFundMe campaign all year long: Thank you!
To Grace, Lorsi, Trisha, Kim, Julie, Amy, Jason, Jeanne, and Lisa, who made matching gifts through EARS’s partnership with the Flanzer Trust: Thank you!
To Mary, Jodi, Amy, Pam, Gail, Debbie, Jeff, Christine, Linnea, Candy, Sue, Robert, Lezanne, Jane, Barbara, Pat, Rose, Kristen, Patricia, Susan, and the nine other anonymous donors who donated through St. Francis’ Facebook campaign: THANK YOU!
Yes, I know this is a long post. Bless you if you’ve made it this far!
But I want every single person who played a role in saving Calypso to know I see you. I saw your shares. I saw your ❤️🩹 emojis. I have read your messages, even if I haven’t responded yet. I see each of you and I appreciate everything you have done for Calypso.
You gave me hope. You gave my team hope.
YOU SAVED CALYPSO’S LIFE YESTERDAY!
And I, for once, am totally at a loss for appropriate words.
With every ounce of my being, THANK YOU! Simply, THANK YOU!
Sincerely,
Erin
Founder, Trapper, Foster, Crazy Cat Lady, Community Cat Advocate, Kitten Dealer, Girl with traps in the white truck, messy-hair lady, PIA, and whatever else you know me by. 🫣
Pictured below are me with my notoriously messy hair, Kenzie (FIP Survivor who weighed a mere 4.4 pounds when we started treatment) and Calypso who is going to battle this anemia while every ounce of her little 6.3 pound body. Let’s Go, Girls! Let’s fight! 💪
