On August Monday evening, August 4, 2025, I returned to our apartment from work to find that our sweet boy, Kobe, was not doing well. We had just bought a house, and Monday was to be our cats' last day at our old apartment before being moved to our new home. We took him to the emergency vet, where we learned he had ingested some amount of drug.

We were absolutely shocked and blown away. We still do not know how this could have happened - whether something fell out of old secondhand furniture, moving boxes, or something was in the crack of a floor that was left exposed after our many moving trips.

The entire past week, we did everything we could to help him recover. He spent over 48 hours hospitalized in intensive care, receiving the best, aggressive treatment. We did absolutely everything we could, spent every dollar, made trips to the Twin Cities, returning at 2AM, getting hardly any sleep. We brought him home when this was no longer an option to try to buy him more time to recover. We stayed with him together all night, without sleep, providing home nursing care to be sure he was as comfortable as possible.

In a lot of cases, these things can clear up within 24-48 hours. However - we still do not know what exactly he got into or how much. And recovery wasn't in the cards. By Thursday evening, it was clear that whatever happened was too much for him to recover from. Despite how hard we tried and how hard he was trying, how much he wanted to stay. We had to make an impossible decision about what was best after much discussions with several veterinarians.

On Friday morning, August 8, 2025, we said goodbye to Kobe. He was only 9 years old. It was one of the worst, exhausting weeks of our lives. We still cannot believe he's gone. What should be a happier start of a new chapter to our lives has been completely overshadowed by this horror. I thought we would have more time together. We thought he would be with us in our house right now, but he isn't. And it's just something that is impossible to accept.

'Devastated' doesn't fully describe it. Most people say their cats are sweet, but Kobe was the sweetest cat you'd ever meet. Everyone he met was his best friend. He loved hugs, giving and receiving cuddles and love. He followed me everywhere I went, sat in my lap as I worked or played games, he wanted nothing more than to be with me. The loss I am feeling now is just immeasurable.

These things never come at a good time, but these expenses came at a bad time. We just spent a lot of our funds on buying a new home and preparing it for our little family. I am setting our goal at $1500, which is about 25% of our total vet costs. I can't believe I am doing this at all, I had never asked for money from anyone before this, but I would have done anything for Kobe - including embarrass myself by asking for money. We could use some support from our wider circle. Anything at all would be an enormous blessing as we pick up the pieces and continue to recover from this tragedy. Thank you for taking the time to read and hold your pets close for us.