Caring for a cat is expressed through small, everyday decisions. We learn their routines, notice subtle changes and do our best to give them a healthy, comfortable life. In return, cats offer companionship that becomes deeply woven into our own lives.
At Dr. Elsey’s, that relationship has shaped our work from the beginning. Our company was founded to solve real problems for cats and the people who love them. A diagnosis within the Elsey family eventually gave that commitment a new and deeply personal direction.
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell found in bone marrow. The disease can affect the bones, kidneys, immune system and the body’s ability to produce healthy blood cells.
After Kathy Elsey was diagnosed with myeloma, Dr. Bruce and Kathy Elsey established the Dr. Elsey’s Fund to Cure Cancer in 2009. The fund began supporting the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation® (MMRF®), an organization focused exclusively on accelerating a cure for every myeloma patient.
The decision grew from personal experience, but its purpose extended well beyond one family. It created a way to help researchers pursue new treatments, give patients better options and move the field closer to a future in which myeloma can be cured.
Progress against a complex disease requires more than a single discovery. It depends on researchers, clinicians, patients, caregivers and supporters working toward the same goal.
The MMRF brings those groups together to accelerate the development of new therapies, organize clinical research and use patient data to pursue more personalized treatment approaches. The organization also provides education and support resources for patients and caregivers navigating the disease.
According to the MMRF, the organization has raised more than $600 million for research, opened nearly 100 clinical trials and helped bring more than 15 FDA-approved therapies to market since its founding. During that time, life expectancy for myeloma patients has tripled.
That cumulative progress is reinforced by the MMRF’s most recent annual reporting. Its education and support services reached more than 17,000 patients and caregivers. More than 85 percent of the MMRF’s budget goes to research and educational programming.
These figures represent progress across the entire myeloma community. They also show why sustained support matters. Each new therapy, clinical trial and contribution of patient data can deepen our understanding of the disease and create better options for the people living with it.
Through the Dr. Elsey’s annual Save $3, Give $3 campaign, cat parents can help support research advancing better treatments in the pursuit of a cure for Multiple Myeloma.
For many years, a cure for myeloma was discussed primarily as an aspiration. Recent progress has allowed researchers to begin defining it as a measurable scientific goal.
In 2026, representatives from the MMRF joined clinicians, researchers, industry partners, patient advocates and patients at a meeting convened by the International Myeloma Society. Together, participants proposed a working definition of a myeloma cure.
Under the proposed definition, a patient may be considered cured when no myeloma cells are detected among one million plasma cells and the patient has remained off all anti-myeloma therapy for five years.
The definition also recognizes that a cure should not come at the cost of irreversible side effects, second cancers or an unacceptable loss of quality of life.
Very few patients currently meet this standard, and the definition does not change myeloma care today. Its importance lies in giving the research community a shared benchmark. Researchers can use it to study why certain patients experience exceptionally deep and lasting responses, identify which therapies may have curative potential and design future clinical trials with cure as a specific objective.
It is a meaningful change in the conversation, but it also underscores how much work remains. Progress must reach more patients, including those with high-risk disease and those who are less likely to benefit from today’s treatments.
Dr. Bruce and Kathy Elsey founded the company with a vision to support pets and people in need. Across our cancer-research initiatives, Dr. Elsey’s has donated more than $19 million while continuing to support shelters, rescues and nonprofit organizations nationwide.
Save $3, Give $3 transforms a regular litter purchase into an opportunity to support myeloma research.
Our annual Save $3, Give $3 campaign runs from October 1 through February 28. Participating retailers display Save $3, Give $3 coupon books near eligible Dr. Elsey’s litter. Cat parents can take a coupon and save $3 on the purchase of a participating 40-pound bag. For every coupon redeemed, Dr. Elsey’s donates $3 to the MMRF. Coupons remain valid through March 31.
One redeemed coupon may feel like a small act. Combined across a community of cat parents, those actions help sustain research, clinical collaboration and patient support.
Cats depend on us to pay attention, act with compassion and make choices that protect their well-being. The responsibility may begin at home, but the values behind it can reach much further.
For complete campaign details, visit the Save $3, Give $3 page.
For the Elsey family, a personal diagnosis became a commitment to help other patients and families. Through Save $3, Give $3, the cat community becomes part of that commitment. Together, the care cats inspire can help advance myeloma research and support the continuing pursuit of a cure.