Staff Sgt. Jesse Knott with Koshka in AfghanistanThe story of Cat of the Year Koshka began in southern Afghanistan. In 2010, the friendly stray caught the attention of Staff Sgt. Jesse Knott, who kept noticing troubling details: One day the kitten appeared to have been spray-painted, and another day some of his fur was shaved off and his skin was cut. Knott couldn’t take seeing the abuse, so he smuggled the furry friend onto his military base.
A few months later, Knott said, little Koshka (Russian for “cat”) helped save his own life. At an especially dark moment, after Knott’s close friends had been killed by a suicide bomber and he was thinking about hurting himself, Koshka kept meowing, head-butting him, touching his forehead with his paw and emitting a deep, loud purr.

The experience deeply affected Knott and convinced him to seek help and also to get Koshka out of Afghanistan when his tour of duty ended. Coordinating Koshka’s travels presented serious challenges, though. To make it happen, an interpreter risked his life transporting the cat to Kabul, and Knott’s parents spent nearly $3,000 on Koshka’s plane ticket to Oregon.

Today, the cat lives happily with Knott’s parents, who help the feline maintain a hilarious Facebook page.