AUSTIN — AUSTIN -- Like many humans and their pets, Katherine Lunsford and her dog, Billy, are inseparable.
"He's a velcro dog. He really wants to be with you," Lunsford said.
Billy, a Boston terrier/boxer mix, really likes to cuddle. And one day, as Billy sat on Lunsford's lap inside their northwest Austin home, the doorbell rang.
"And he jumped off of my lap and kicked me in the stomach and pushed off against my stomach. And it burned across my stomach," she said. "I went to the doctor, and the next day they diagnosed me with having Stage 3 ovarian cancer."
Lunsford had never experienced any symptoms prior to that day.
"Had [Billy] not done that, no way I would've gone to the doctor when I did ... 'cause nothing hurt," she said.
Since her diagnosis nearly two years ago, Lunsford has had a round of chemotherapy. She was in remission for about six months, but then the cancer came back.
"Currently, I'm doing immunotherapy, and I'm still in remission and have been for four months," she said.
The treatments have made her a little weaker.
"I'm having to move back to California to be closer to my folks because I just need a little more help than I can get down here," she said.
And Billy is simply too much for Lunsford and her 80-year-old mother to handle, so she's trying to find him a new home. But getting someone to adopt him is a little hard.
"His biggest challenge is his storm anxiety. He really, really is frightened of storms," she said.
And when he gets scared -- whether by storms or strangers -- Lunsford said Billy gets a little nippy, so he's better off in a home without little kids.
But despite his needs, Lunsford still wants someone to be there for Billy -- just like he's been there for her.
"It's definitely not my choice, all things being equal," she said. "I would absolutely take him with me."
If you're interested in meeting and adopting Billy, you can message the Facebook page that was created for him.