WESTMINSTER, Md. — Talks of TikTok bans proceed on Capitol Hill, however right here in Maryland, a sophomore at McDaniel College in Westminster has a unique tackle the social media app.
They say cats have 9 lives, however this cat bought a tenth. It’s all because of a TikTok marketing campaign.
Fluffy and vigorous, however the route right here for the cat Diego wasn’t straightforward.
“He was identified with a Congenital Extrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt,” stated Kaitlyn Augustine, Diego’s dad or mum.
Complicated phrases that Augustine had a fair more durable time getting identified. He was simply six weeks old when it began.
“It was really only a few weeks after I first bought him. I simply observed a little bit little bit of eye twitching,” stated Augustine.
She took him to the vet emergency room. “They suggested it might be teething. They weren’t really worried about it,” said Augustine.
But just a few weeks later, it got worse. “So the main seizure I had woke up that morning, and I found him in my closet,” said Augustine. “And he was laying in there. Unfortunately, he had urinated and defecated. He was lying in a pile of drool.”
She knew this was one thing greater. After a pair thousand {dollars}, and a number of exams, nonetheless no detection of what was making the seizures. Diego wanted extra exams, however as a school scholar that is a troublesome expense.
“After that, that is once I determined to begin the GoFundMe, as a result of, at this level, he wasn’t having constant neurological exercise. He was excellent, then he was dangerous,” stated Augustine.
Promoting the GoFundMe on TikTok, she documented the entire expertise.
“At that time, I had spent about 15 thousand {dollars}, and it was utterly lined by folks I met on TikTok who donated, not even realizing me or my cat, simply seeing our story and feeling like they might assist,” stated Augustine.
Lots of assist, however nonetheless no answer. She wasn’t giving up. Determined to avoid wasting her furry companion, she did a fast Google search, discovering a analysis that matched what Diego was experiencing.
Augustine stated, “Every like buildup of poisonous chemical in his physique was going round his liver and never by means of it, and so by this underuse of the liver, it was additionally failing.”
After working it by the vet, an ultrasound confirmed it was a match. But it might cost ten thousand {dollars} extra for the surgical procedure. An nameless person donated to make it occur.
“These are folks nowhere close to me, and so they’re like, so totally different from me [and] are keen to assist,” stated Augustine.
Projected to solely reside two years, now Diego has a full life forward of him. Augustine took down the GoFundMe however hopes the social media app lives on.
“It makes me really feel so wonderful that one single app can deliver so many individuals collectively to take action many good issues,” stated Augustine. “TikTok helped me save my cat.”
