Princess Twinkle Toes aka "Twink"
Her Body Keeps Crashing—Help Us Find Out Why
Buhl, ID • Clowder 9 Ranch, Inc.
When this sweet kitten came into our care at Clowder 9 Ranch at just three months old, she had already survived a terrible ordeal. She was found on the side of the road with severe injuries to her head above her eyes, as well as significant trauma to her perianal and rectal areas. While she survived her initial injuries, they left a lasting impact. Now, a little over a year old, Princess Twinkle Toes is facing a chronic and highly unusual health crisis. Every 4 to 6 weeks, she experiences a cyclical flare-up. It begins with severe gastrointestinal gas, which is immediately followed by a 2-to-14-day neurological episode. During these crashes, she suffers from ataxia (loss of balance), extreme exhaustion after eating, episodes resembling narcolepsy, intense scratching around her face and ears, and severe sensitivity around her backside. We have been fighting tirelessly to help her. Over the last year, we have successfully ruled out standard infectious diseases, including FIV, FelV, and Toxoplasmosis. Her blood work consistently shows minor elevations in kidney and pancreatic values, but it has not given us a clear answer. She even completed an 84-day antiviral trial, but her cyclical crashes have returned. She is currently in a downward spiral that began in late May, and she has not been able to bounce back. Because her case is so rare and complex, her previous veterinary care stalled. On Tuesday, we are driving two hours to see a new veterinarian who is willing to support us, think outside the box, and explore unusual avenues. We are hoping to run a comprehensive round of tests to look for clues, including a Fasted Bile Acids Test, a urinalysis, and X-rays of her skull, jaw, and caudal area to check for internal malformations or old trauma. The advanced imaging she truly needs—like an MRI, CT scan, or spinal tap—is the gold standard, but at nearly $10,000, it is entirely unaffordable for our small rescue. Furthermore, because her symptoms started so young, she cannot be covered by pet insurance due to pre-existing conditions. But we are not without hope, and this next round of tests may provide us more clues. Even with Tuesday's tests, we do not know if we will get a definitive diagnosis. But we refuse to give up on her. As a small 501(c)(3) rescue, the estimated $2,000 cost for this diagnostic workup will put a massive strain on our funds. Every dollar raised here goes directly to her new veterinary clinic to cover her testing. Please help us support this brave girl as we search for the answers she needs to find relief. 6/21/26 Update: The practice of medicine rarely includes certainty, so step Thank you so much to everyone who has donated, shared, prayed, or checked in on Princess Twinkle Toes. Twink had her appointment with Dr. Cleveland at Habitat Veterinary Hospital on June 16, 2026, and it was a very good visit. He took the time to review her entire history and help us start working through this complicated puzzle, one piece at a time. One of the hardest parts of medicine is that testing does not always give us a clear answer. Sometimes it gives us information by ruling things out. That is where we are with Twink right now. Her x-rays looked great, which means we did not see any obvious structural problems. Her fecal test came back negative, so we do not have evidence of parasites. Her pre- and post-prandial bile acids were also within normal range, which makes an obvious liver shunt much less likely. Those are good results — but they do not fully explain why Twink continues to have these recurring flares with weakness, poor stamina, GI upset, anal leakage, and head/jaw/ear discomfort. So now we move to the next step: an abdominal ultrasound. This will let us look more closely at her intestines, liver, kidneys, adrenal glands, and other internal structures. We are also tapering her off prednisolone so that, if needed, we can discuss further endocrine testing such as cortisol/adrenal evaluation. Twink is still having ups and downs. She is not 100%, but she is eating, drinking, resting comfortably, and still having little bursts of “Twink” — moments where she wants to play, explore, and be part of the world around her. That is why we are still moving forward. This is not a fast or simple case. It is a process of elimination, patience, and listening closely to what Twink’s body is telling us. Your support is helping us keep taking the next reasonable step for her without jumping straight to unaffordable specialty diagnostics. We are so grateful for that. Thank you for helping us give our fragile, stubborn, complicated little unicorn the chance to keep searching for answers. 💜🐾 6/30/26 Update: The Next Steps Twink Update: So Close to Herself Again 💜 The past couple of days, Twink has been darn near 95%. She has been playful, engaged, active, alert, bright-eyed, silly, eating great, and thankfully has had no gas. At the moment, her main lingering symptom is diarrhea. I have also noticed a few more broken whiskers over the last couple of days. These may seem like small details, but with Twink, we have learned not to dismiss anything. Every little clue may help us better understand what her body is trying to tell us. To help make her upcoming ultrasound as accurate and useful as possible, we have stopped all medications, supplements, herbs, and vitamins for now. We have also sent out a gut biome test to get a better look at the bacterial balance in her system. Twink’s ultrasound is scheduled for July 8th, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. While we do not know what, if anything, it will reveal, it is an important next diagnostic step. It should help us look more closely at her intestines, organs, kidneys, adrenal area, and overall abdominal health so we can better determine where to go from here. We were quoted approximately $300–$400, which is thankfully much less than we originally expected. For the last year, I have watched this little unicorn go through so many ups and downs, often feeling helpless as we tried to understand how to help her. Recently, I came across the story of another kitty with symptoms very similar to Twink’s. That cat was able to have extensive diagnostics done, including advanced imaging, biopsy, and scoping, and after all of that, the conclusion was an unusual case of chronic enteropathy/IBD. The more we have watched Twink’s patterns over this past year, the more GI dysbiosis/chronic enteropathy seems to fit. I am not saying we have the answer yet. We may not get one clear answer. But I do feel like we are narrowing in on a more realistic treatment plan that may help Twink continue living her best life. Thank you for helping us keep searching for answers for our fragile, stubborn, complicated little unicorn. 💜🐾 7/8/26 Update: Twink had her ultrasound today \*\*Twink Ultrasound Update 💜\*\* Twink had her in-depth abdominal ultrasound today, and she did SO well. She was calm, cooperative, and an absolute angel for the whole visit. We are still waiting on the final report, so we do not want to overstate or misinterpret the findings. For now, we can say there were some unusual GI-related findings that we will continue to monitor and explore with a repeat ultrasound in about 30 days. For the next month, we will be focusing on consistency: no diet or food changes, reduced stress, special probiotics, B vitamins, and close monitoring of her symptoms. The hope is that a steady month will help us better understand what is driving her flares and what changes, if any, show up on her next ultrasound. Today she is having a very good day — bright, engaged, comfortable, and acting much more like herself. Today’s visit was nearly $500, but it was an important step in Twink’s diagnostic journey. Donations through her Waggle campaign help us continue pursuing reasonable diagnostics and care for this very complicated little unicorn. Thank you for helping us keep searching for answers for Twink. 💜🐾 7/15/26 Update: When Finding a Answer Only Deepens the Mystery Twink Update: Three Weeks Episode-Free 💜 I realized we never shared a full update after Princess Twinkle Toes had her abdominal ultrasound. While we are still not calling anything a definitive diagnosis, the ultrasound did give us some important information. Her liver, kidneys, adrenal glands, pancreas, bladder, and most of her GI tract looked good. However, there were some unusual findings in a few areas of her small intestine, along with a mildly enlarged lymph node nearby. These findings may fit with an inflammatory or GI-related process, which is the direction we have been leaning as we continue trying to understand Twink’s unusual episodes. For now, the plan is to continue monitoring her closely and repeat the ultrasound on August 5th to see whether those findings have changed, improved, or progressed. Twink did have a very minor episode after the stress of her ultrasound appointment, which we expected was possible. But since then, she has now gone about three weeks episode-free and is doing very well. She is eating, playing, engaging with her friends, enjoying her normal routines, and acting much more like herself. For a cat who has kept us guessing for a full year, this stretch of stability feels like a huge blessing. The next ultrasound will help us decide whether we continue with supportive GI-focused care, pursue additional diagnostics, or adjust her treatment plan. Thank you to everyone who has donated, shared, prayed, and followed along with Twink’s story. Your support has helped us keep taking the next reasonable step for this fragile, stubborn, mag
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