On Wednesday, March 22nd, my cat Salem started exhibiting intestinal issues and was throwing up. I discovered later that day that he had eaten some boiled herbs I had left on the stove the night before to compost in my garden for the next day. Salem began vomiting and eventually, stopped eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom altogether.

Salem passed away from respiratory arrest at around 11:00 pm on Saturday, March 25, 2023. He suffered acute renal failure and spent less than five hours in the hospital before his little body couldn't take it anymore. The vet called me after I had spent the day spreading awareness. I was on TikTok doing a livestream in hopes of getting donations. The vet called me around that time stating Salem had stopped breathing and that they had tried to resuscitate him and that they had been doing CPR on him for 6 minutes straight with no success. They asked me if I wanted them to keep going. God gave me the hardest decision of my life and I had to ask the vet to stop and let him go. Salem was only four years old.

Salem accompanied me through many tribulations in my life. Before I got him, I prayed to God to bring me a beloved companion that would never leave my side and show me what true love is. I manifested a little black cat and God brought me Salem in 2018 when my sister texted me a picture of Salem and his brother as kittens, found by a kind family friend in the middle of the streets. I drove four hours to pick up Salem with my then partner Carl (who also passed away). When I first picked him up and held him, we made and maintained immediate eye contact. Salem dropped into my hands instantaneously and began purring. He was about 5 weeks old, and it was a true soul connection; love at first sight.

Salem survived trauma after trauma with me -- domestic violence, houselessness, discrimination, death after death, spiritual abuse, family abandonment, job loss, financial disparity, living in a 8x8 cabin in the North Carolina woods with no electricity - through it all, Salem stuck by my side and never left. He was ALWAYS there.

Everyone keeps reminding me that I gave Salem the best life with a lot of love, when he could have otherwise been a street cat roaming without a home. I am trying to understand the purpose of this tragedy - why this had to happen. There is no rhyme or reason. Death comes as swiftly as the wind and she never carries mercy by her side. I am utterly, irrevocably, heartbroken.

Salem was my best friend. He was my son. A part of the small little family I still have left. He was my one and only. No one will ever understand the pain in my heart now that he is gone unless they have too, lost a pet. Our pets are like our children. And after losing both my partner, Carl, of four years and my childhood dog in 2021, and then my beloved friend, Manny (Tortuguita), to murder due to police violence just a few months ago, and now this... I am completely heartbroken and ridden with grief.

I am calling upon my community, family, and friends for both emotional and financial support. Salem's hospital bills have amounted to about $2,000. With the addition of cremation, traveling expenses to visit family while I grieve, taking time off work and my community events, as well as paying for grief counseling, I imagine total costs of this tragedy to rack up very quickly. I will need all the support I can get stabilizing myself after such a traumatizing ordeal.

Thank you for reading. Your donations, love, and support are greatly appreciated at this time.

-Victory and the Rodriguez family