http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2018/03/10/19k-cat-kidney-transplant/
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/pets/bs-fe-cat-kidney-transplant-20180228-story.html
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A University of Baltimore professor used the money to save the life of her senior cat, and she says every penny was worth it.
If cats come with nine lives, Stanley is now living off of nine more.
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When the frisky feline wasn’t feeling well because of kidney problems, Boyd didn’t think twice about making him purrfect again.
“He seems almost human to me,” she explains. “He’s a friend, and I believe that this friend wanted to live, so I paid for the surgery.”
The pricetag for a new kitty kidney? Try nearly $20,000.
Boyd says she and her husband paid for the surgery out of their limited savings. They had to ditch plans for a new car.
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“People who have commented online in some cases have been tacky and cruel. That’s their right,” Boyd said.
She says saving Stan has given her a new perspective on money and life. She says she would do it again, as she’s still focused on the one she calls her soulmate.
“He purrs all the time. He begs for poultry. He wakes me up at 4 a.m. for a snack. He’s happy, and we’re still very good friends,” she said.
On the road to recovery, Stanley celebrated his 18th birthday Saturday.
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She now hopes this cool cat will stick around a bit longer — a present Boyd and her family says comes without a pricetag.
“Twenty-five would be great. I had always hoped for 30,” she said.
The family also adopted the 2-year-old donor cat that provided Stan’s kidney.
Boyd says she still spends hundreds of dollars on drugs and bloodwork to make sure his body doesn’t reject his new kidney.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/pets/bs-fe-cat-kidney-transplant-20180228-story.html
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As a condition of the $19,000 surgery, she also adopted the kidney donor, a 2-year-old tabby named Jay, bringing the total number of felines in her household to six. Both cats are thriving post-surgery — but if Stanley were tragically to die tomorrow, Boyd said, she would have no regrets.
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