AJ is a 5-year-old Bombay in Chicago, IL, who needs $2,000 for Thymoma excision.

I rescued AJ from an abusive cruelty situation. She was a roommate's cat. He allowed the other roommates & their pets to kick AJ out of her own home. One let her dog chase AJ out and the other taped her cat door shut. When my mom & I arrived to move me out, no one had seen AJ for over a month. AJ appeared while we were loading the car. She was so skinny I cried, we took her home with us after that.

AJ is the sweetest void. She loves my mom who drove her back to Chicago from Boston and gave AJ her very first cat tree. She loves my grandma because of all the treats and food my grandma gave her in those first days. It’s like AJ never forgot their love and kindness even when I moved out on my own and she only gets to see them both when they visit. AJ also loves her little brother cat Milo.

Being only 22 and having lost my jobs because of the pandemic, plus having debilitating long haul Covid symptoms, has killed my finances. AJ is so sweet and didn’t deserved the treatment she had for the first 3 years of her life. I want to give her more years of love. ❤️

AJ’s sudden panting sent me to the ER vet in the middle of the night. She had pleural effusion and later an ultrasound found a large mass in her chest. After 2 weeks of diagnostic testing we found out yesterday that the mass is a cancer called a thymoma. A CT scan and surgery consult confirmed it’s something they can remove with surgery and her prognosis is good after surgery.

AJ is big for a girl cat and all black so she can look intimidating. But she has the tiniest meow. She makes a tiny honking sound that is so cute it might just hurt you lol. She plays by launching herself with her mouth open at her toys. Her attack style of open mouth death should not be underestimated LOL.