Noboru, my 13-year-old cat, is currently hospitalized after developing a mass in his neck that is pressing on his airway and making it difficult for him to breathe.

He is in an oxygen chamber, on antibiotics, and being closely monitored while we wait for cytology results from a sample taken from the mass. His veterinarian is considering several possibilities, including an abscess or something related to his thyroid disease, but at this point we simply do not know what we are dealing with yet.

What we do know is that the mass is significant enough to affect his breathing, and he may need additional imaging, such as a CT scan, and possibly surgery depending on what the testing shows.

His current hospitalization has already cost $5,251, which I had to split between two credit cards, and that may only be the beginning.

Normally I would do everything I could to absorb an unexpected veterinary bill myself, but this has come at the end of an unusually expensive few months of animal care. I have already spent thousands of dollars on veterinary treatment this summer, including helping two rescue cats who needed medical care before they could be safely adopted. That has left my emergency cushion much smaller than it normally would be, just as Noboru suddenly needs serious care of his own.

I hate asking for help, so I am also trying to raise money by selling my Working Musician’s Booking Toolkit and Outreach Tracker to musicians who can use them. But several friends pointed out that people who are not musicians may still want a way to help Noboru directly, and that is why I am creating this fundraiser.

Noboru has been with me for 13 years, adopted from Best Friends Animal Society at 3 months. He is stubborn, demanding, needy, occasionally infuriating, and very, very loved. The apartment is painfully quiet without him here.

Any amount donated will go toward his hospitalization, diagnostics, medication, imaging, and any procedure or surgery that may be necessary to get him breathing comfortably and hopefully bring him home.

If you are not able to donate, sharing this fundraiser would also mean a great deal to me.

I will post updates as we receive his test results and learn what his treatment will require.

Thank you for helping me take care of my sweet old man. ❤️