A new product is gaining popularity to preserve important information like pet records for loved ones in an emergency. NokBox helps people organize their financial accounts, valuables, social network memberships, personal history, and estate plans (even if they don’t have them). 

The idea is to minimize the time next of kin might have to waste digging through old file cabinets, laptops, bills, and checkbooks. There is an entire folder on pets, which caught everybody’s eye at AllAboutSpot.com. Anyone including their AllAboutSpot.com account information in a NokBox can better ensure their pets are well cared for in short-term or catastrophic emergencies.

“One of the most harrowing experiences my family ever faced occurred immediately after my husband’s grandmother passed,” says Kim Becker. “She owned an older German Shepard with severe health problems, and we didn’t fully know the extent of them because she lived more than seven hours away.”

Although separated by hundreds of miles, Kim contacted the neighbor who temporarily cared for Spike at the urging of law enforcement. Unfortunately, the neighbor didn’t know anything about the dog’s diet, health, or vet of record.

“I spent several days calling every veterinary clinic in the area until one of them ‘thought’ that maybe they had seen Spike several years earlier,” she said. “The clinic suggested they pick up and care for the dog until we could make arrangements to rescue him. We thought it was a good idea, knowing that Spike’s shots had to be updated before our son could take possession of him up in northern Nevada.”

The family planned to fly from Las Vegas to southern Arizona, pick up Spike, and then drive him to northern Nevada. They landed at a nearby airport when they received a troubling call from the veterinarian. The vet suggested Spike be put to sleep before they could see him.

“The news came as another shock to us, especially because our bereavement over our grandmother had taken a backseat to rescue efforts,” she said. “It was another blow, which is why we held off allowing Spike to be put to sleep.”

When the family arrived at the clinic, Spike was despondent and could not walk without assistance. But with some gentle coaxing, he began to show signs of recovery in their presence — enough to move forward with the rescue. 

“We planned to deliver him to our son and then make sure he received the medical attention he needed,” she said. “But everything we tried over the next few days was guesswork. Spike only wanted certain foods with his medication. There were other complications as well, but we just kept moving forward, encouraged as his spirit seemed to be returning with every hour he spent in our care.”

Ultimately, the family’s story ended in tragedy. While they provided Spike with a few happy days on the road, they could not save his life. After being assessed by another veterinarian in northern Nevada, they had no choice but to put him to sleep. 

“Spike was very old and had health complications, but I often wonder whether having all of his vital information might have helped us give him a few more happy years instead of days,” she said. “Even people prepared to provide information for their next of kin tend to forget about their pets. There is an assumption that someone will want their pets and that casual conservations are enough to keep everyone in the loop on pet health. It’s not.”

A little more than a year later, Kim says their family experienced a similar event when her mother-in-law had a stroke and could no longer care for her dog while in long-term recovery. It took her family more than eight months to place the pet in a home. The dog, a chihuahua-terrier mix, is living its best life today, but it was a stressful transition. 

“There were no shot records, and the dog needed a small nose surgery to improve their breathing,” she said. “My husband was taking care of everything else for his mother — the bills, house, family updates, everything. The additional responsibility of finding a pet home is challenging.”

In both cases, Kim says a NokBok or Legacy Box containing AllAboutSpot.com account information would have been ideal. A NokBox contains 15-color-coded folders, 72 tabs, document protectors, a key pouch, and instructional checklists in a watertight box — including pet record account passwords.

“The challenge most people have, and even my family had, is that you cannot manage an estate without knowing where everything is and what might be inside it,” she said “The same can be said for surviving pets. By placing an AllAboutSpot account password inside the NokBox, your next of kin will know everything they need to know about your pets — shot records, health, diet, and which friends or family members have agreed to take them in an emergency or for the rest of their lives. We all love our pets. It only makes sense to protect them.”

Kim’s experiences with either dog are not unique. Approximately 5 to 7 million pets enter an animal shelter every year, many of them surviving pets with no next of kin information. More than one million of these pets will be euthanized.

The concept for the NokBox was developed by a teacher, real estate agent, and mom in Littleton, Colorado. When her dad passed away in 2021, she and her brothers struggled to organize his estate with the local probate court, even with a will.