OTTAWA – Christina Kevins says she can’t even afford her cat’s pain medication as she struggles to treat her 15-year-old pet for kidney and heart disease.

The former government employee’s financial woes began earlier this year after she realized she had not been properly paid for a contract position with Transport Canada, according to Metro.

Kevins has also had problems receiving employment insurance because her record of employment showed her contract ended a month earlier than it actually did. She has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover some of the expensive vet bills.

Kevins is one of 22,000 people who have reported problems with the Phoenix pay system.

The federal government missed its self-imposed deadline, on Oct. 31, for clearing a backlog of payroll problems.

The government says it hopes to have the problems sorted out by the end of the year.