If you know me, you know that my cat, Josie, is my world.

She came into my life unexpectedly in 2017 during my sophomore year of college. One of my best friends, Beth, had taken in a stray kitten but her building didn’t allow pets, so she asked if Josie could stay with me for a bit while she figured out what to do. I had never had cats before and was even a little scared of them, but she was so cute and small that I said sure, why not? Well, a week turned into a few, a few turned into a month, and by then I had fallen in love with her and wasn’t giving her back. Despite not planning to have a pet in college, the cat distribution system chose me, and it was clear she was mine now. She followed me around, slept on my chest, and quickly became my tiny best friend who brought me immeasurable joy and company during such a tumultuous time of young adulthood.

We have been inseparable ever since. She greets me at the door, comes when I sing to her, and sleeps with me every single night. She came to Tampa with me when I moved in with my partner Kris in 2020, and has turned both of us into lifelong cat people after seeing what amazing, loving companions they can be. So much so, that Kris desperately wanted to get a second one, and we adopted our kitten Willow in November 2024 (much to Josie’s annoyance - she still hasn’t forgiven us for that).

Earlier this year Kris and I decided to move to Virginia, and in April I took Josie for a final check-up with her usual vet before the move. As a very hands-on pet parent, I’ve always been diligent about her semi-annual visits because even the thought of losing her was enough to make me tear up. Aside from needing a tooth or two pulled, she had a perfect bill of health, with the vet’s only suggestion being to try Prozac to see if it might help her adjust to Willow. We moved in May, I started her on the medication, and within two weeks I noticed she was more lethargic and eating less. Every vet we spoke to reassured us those were normal side effects, so we tried not to worry. But by early August, I noticed she was looking visibly thinner, and I just had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Call it mother’s intuition, but there was a voice in the back of my head saying “she’s dying”, despite the clean bill of health just 4 months prior. I chalked it up to anxiety, until she started throwing up multiple days in a row. We took her to urgent care, figuring they would tell us the Prozac was the culprit and to discontinue it. Instead, we were met with devastating news after they took an X-Ray - she has lung cancer, and it has spread. The voice in my head was right.

To say we were shocked and heartbroken is an understatement. The vet team was just as surprised since she presented great, had clean bloodwork and no breathing issues. They explained that most of their cancer patients have perfect bloodwork, and that the only way to catch something like this is through advanced imaging which typically isn’t part of routine checkups. We were referred to a wonderful oncologist, and after extensive testing it was confirmed: Josie has primary lung cancer that has metastasized. It’s an extremely rare form of cancer in cats, and it’s terminal.

We chose to try chemotherapy in hopes of extending our time with her, keeping her comfort and quality of life at the forefront of every decision, but it unfortunately doesn’t seem to be helping. We’ve tried every single treatment and supportive medication we can for her - appetite stimulants, pain medications, IV fluids and B-12 shots at urgent care appointments - anything to keep her comfortable.

Despite being proactive pet parents who have pet insurance, this care has been extremely costly, and I have already hit the $5,000 reimbursement limit from our plan. I started this GoFundMe to help cover the remaining costs of her chemo, medications, and ultimate end of life care. Anything you can give would be greatly appreciated, as we try to maximize our time left with her and make her days full of love, snuggles, and as little pain as possible.

This has been extremely difficult for Kris and I to cope with. We are angry and confused and devastated, as this just feels so unfair. She is only 8 years old, why is this happening? Did we do something wrong? Could we have prevented this? I was hoping to have nearly double the time with her, and it’s ripping my heart out that our journey together is coming to an end so prematurely. Josie is truly my soul cat who has been with me since I was nineteen, and I will love and cherish her for the rest of my life.


If there’s one thing I hope you take from our story, it’s this: if you ever have a gut feeling that something is wrong with your pet, listen to your intuition and take them in, even if it turns out to be nothing. And if you can get preventative scans for both your pets and even yourself, please do them. I wish I had known to ask for them sooner.


Thank you for reading, for caring, and for helping us give Josie the comfort and peace she deserves.

With love,

Brooke & Kris