WESTMINSTER, Md. — Talks of TikTok bans continue on Capitol Hill, but here in Maryland, a sophomore at McDaniel College in Westminster has a different take on the social media app.
They say cats have nine lives, but this cat got a tenth. It's all thanks to a TikTok campaign.
Fluffy and full of life, but the route here for the cat Diego wasn't easy.
"He was diagnosed with a Congenital Extrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt,” said Kaitlyn Augustine, Diego's parent.
Complicated words that Augustine had an even harder time getting diagnosed. He was just six weeks old when it started.
"It was actually just a few weeks after I first got him. I just noticed a little bit of eye twitching,” said 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 something bigger. After a couple thousand dollars, and multiple tests, still no detection of what was causing the seizures. Diego needed more tests, but as a college student that's a tough expense.
"After that, that's when I decided to start the GoFundMe, because, at this point, he wasn't having consistent neurological activity. He was very good, then he was bad,” said Augustine.
Promoting the GoFundMe on TikTok, she documented the whole experience.
"At that point, I had spent about 15 thousand dollars, and it was completely covered by people I met on TikTok who donated, not even knowing me or my cat, just seeing our story and feeling like they could help,” said Augustine.
Lots of help, but still no solution. She wasn't giving up. Determined to save her furry companion, she did a quick Google search, finding a diagnosis that matched what Diego was experiencing.
Augustine said, "Every like buildup of toxic chemical in his body was going around his liver and not through it, and so by this underuse of the liver, it was also failing.”
After running it by the vet, an ultrasound showed it was a match. But it would cost ten thousand dollars more for the surgery. An anonymous person donated to make it happen.
"These are people nowhere near me, and they're like, so different from me [and] are willing to help," said Augustine.
Projected to only live two years, now Diego has a full life ahead of him. Augustine took down the GoFundMe but hopes the social media app lives on.
"It makes me feel so amazing that one single app can bring so many people together to do so many good things,” said Augustine. “TikTok helped me save my cat.”
