An insane vet bill- 2 inconclusive tests, $5,000

I'm being forced to do one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, having my best friend and childhood pet put to sleep. Took him in when I realized he wasn't eating, drinking, or urinating. The vets strung me along only to surprised me with an insane $5,000 bill for 2 simple tests and the cost of keeping him. Now along with our lease ending this month, and suddenly having to find a new car and new job, with what little I have, I am being put into a $5,000+ debt that I have to somehow pay off over a span of 6 months.

When I was in the 5th grade our family cat got out and came home to have kittens, we gave temp descriptor names while we looked for new homes for them. During this time, my mother fell very ill and was hospitalized going into a coma for weeks. We were told she likely wasn't coming home and rehoming the kittens wasn't important at the time. And by the time my mother came home they were too old. One of the kittens Baby Black was someone helped who get me through that. And he's stuck by my side all the way to age 26.

Throughout my late childhood, my teen years, all the way through 26 he has always wanted to be right by my side. If I get up to go to the kitchen he's in there, if I run downstairs to grab something he's on the stairs with me down and up. I couldn't sit or lay down without him laying beside or on me. He loves me a lot.

If I left for school, then to work, he always followed me to the door and waited for me to come home.

When I sleep, he sleeps beside my pillow with one paw extended on my arm. And while I'm 26, it's crazy to think he's been by my side for a large majority of my life, never showing signs of aging or slowing down until this week.

Two days before he was throwing a new toy in the air, catching it, and suddenly he was not eating or drinking. He became depressed and lethargic and stopped responding to touch overnight. I took him to a clinic because we got a new kitten and thought he might not be eating for that reason, and got stimulants but then when we got home I realized he hadn't urinated in days. Rushing him to the ER, to see if there was anything to do, they took him back for a blood test only to have it done 7 hours later. Was his kidney. Said an ultrasound could tell if it's something they can fix with medicine, it'd be $300. Okay. 4 hours later, something in the kidneys, could be a bacterial infection, fungus, or cancer.

They could keep him overnight, they'll have results in the morning. Every day it's "the next morning we'll have results" and it's like this far if it is a fungal infection and can be treated easily it would be insane to just not see. But I couldn't have anticipated it would be more than even $1800 to just see if there was anything to do, just to come back inconclusive with a $5k bill. It feels like I fell down the stairs just to be kicked repeatedly. They wanted me to do surgery to look at his kidneys next, so Baby is left undiagnosed and will be put down at home. Not only am I heartbroken but now in a debt that I have to pay monthly over a span of 6 months that I have no idea how I will manage. Between the first vet, er, and euthanasia our total is unbelievable.

I don't expect any help but I was encouraged to make this by a friend, and anything would go a long way especially now with everything going on. Thank you.