For a cat so extraordinary, Zooey had humble beginnings. Zooey was the runt of a litter of kittens born in a trailer park in South Carolina.

One of my friends, Alex, wanted to adopt a kitten and found a listing on Craigslist that brought her and my other friend James to that trailer park. Just two kittens from the litter remained, a gray male kitten and his little tuxedo sister. Alex adopted the gray cat, Winston, but before she and James left, the owner of the kittens pleaded with James to take the remaining kitten. James couldn’t resist and brought the tuxedo home with him.

Now the little tuxedo, then named Charlotte, had extensive digestive issues and was quite the handful. I tried to help James care for her and bring her back to health, but eventually it was too much for him and he offered her to me. I couldn’t say no, I’d already fallen in love. That was how Zooey and I came to be.

From there a incomparable friendship flourished and we spent the next 11 years growing and learning from each other. Nothing will ever do justice to the bond we shared, but this book aims to tell as much of the story as possible.

Curated with love and care, this book is dedicated to the one and only Zooey.