FurePET was inspired by a petite Boxer named Nina. She’s been my ride or die since December 2019. As a first-time dog parent, I knew nothing about caring for dogs, but I figured it all out along the way.

In 2022, I created FurePET — an Etsy store selling stylish, flower- and bow-tie-shaped AirTag holders that slid onto dog collars. I was proud to partner with a collective of women artisans in Brazil who handcrafted each accessory using sustainable leather and artisan techniques. This collaboration not only supported ethical production but also celebrated creativity, culture, and community.

Then in November 2025, I decided to take an early retirement from a stressful career as a police officer. Along with Nina and her brother Theo, we decided it was time for a change, and we moved from Austin, Texas to Montreal, Canada. But halfway through my drive up north, I got a devastating call — my movers were involved in a catastrophic wreck, destroying not only all of my personal belongings but my entire business inventory. I was devastated.

Several months later, in February 2026, Nina was diagnosed with another mast cell tumor (she’d had surgery in 2025 to remove a previous one). It felt as though my whole world was falling apart.

Quitting has never been in my DNA.

During Nina’s recovery, I decided to pivot from a pet business that made physical products to building a digital product — a mobile app.

As a former law enforcement professional, I’m wired to stay organized and to work efficiently. When I moved from the United States to Canada and requested Nina’s vet records, the file was over 150 pages long. It was a headache sifting through all of it — trying to figure out when her next vaccines were due and piecing together the rest of her medical history.

I kept thinking: there are already other apps that offer a central hub where everything lives — medical records, vaccine schedules, allergies, medications, symptoms, diagnoses, vet contacts — but most of them were overly complicated and had unnecessary features. I wanted to create something that was simple, organized, and searchable.

I taught myself the basics of app development and started building the app I’d been wishing existed since Nina’s first diagnosis. Not just a place to store records, but a true digital health passport for pets. A place where you can track vaccine schedules with reminders, log allergies and behavioral milestones, monitor symptoms and diagnoses over time, manage medication schedules, store measurements for clothing (because I could never remember Nina or Theo’s neck size whenever I’d go to order a new collar), track physical trends like weight stability over the years, and even create a memorial for pets who’ve crossed the Rainbow Bridge.

FurePET is the app I needed and couldn’t find. So I built it.

It’s for the pet parent who wants to be proactive about their pet’s health, not just reactive. For the one who loves their pet like family — because they are.

Nina is doing well. She’s still the queen of the house, still stealing spots on the couch, still reminding me every day why I built this. Everything I put into FurePET, I built because of her… and Theo. (I have to mention him, or else he’ll get jealous.)

Welcome to FurePET. Your pet’s health story, all in one place. 🐾

— Maria “MK” Katayama, Founder of FurePET