Rust Belt Man Loses 186 Pounds and Goes on Road Trip with Cat Named Dog

If you want to save your life, go on a road trip with a cat named Dog. 

A few years ago, TJ McQuiston, a steel fabricator from Erie, PA, was struggling with alcoholism and obesity, but he didn’t want to become just another death of despair.

Hundreds of thousands of American men have been dying in their 30s and 40s of alcoholism, suicide, drug abuse and suicide. According to the Center for Disease Control, 39.8% of Americans aged 20 to 39 are obese. The problem is especially acute in the Rust Belt, where in a generation millions of jobs have been lost, destroying communities across a swath of America.

McQuiston, who weighed “upward of 468 pounds”, made a decision to walk toward the light. He’d suffered a breakup and was fighting depression. On a trip to Tennessee, he had thoughts of suicide and found himself driving recklessly. 

Enough. He committed himself to a diet called “warrior fasting”, which involved eating only during a daily four-hour window. 

He lost 40 pounds in a month. Eventually, after his dog Nevaeh (“heaven” backward) died last August, he stopped drinking. And then he kept going. He lost more and more weight. He saw a therapist. He prayed and read scripture every day.

Last December, he adopted a cat and named her “Dog”. He wanted a gender-neutral name, he said. “And the way the world is going, it made sense to name a cat ‘Dog’.” 

Last month, he quit his job as a steel fabricator and went on a road trip. I met TJ last week at a park in West Virginia, where my wife Meri and I were spending a few days hiking. At that point, he’d visited Ohio, West Virginia. Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. He still plans on traveling out west. TJ now weighs 282 pounds. He’s hoping to cut his weight to around 240. Every day, he walks at least three miles. “I decided I’d rather do that than not be able to put on my socks,” he said. When he can’t finish a hike, he walks around his living room until he completes the three miles. 

McQuiston knows he’ll have to return to work eventually. He doesn’t have a massive amount of savings. “But I knew if I waited for the perfect moment to quit my job, it would never come,” he said. 

He’s now dedicating his life to helping people. American men, particularly in the Rust Belt, are hesitant to see therapists. “If you think you need it, go, go one time,” he said he tells his buddies. “If you don’t like it, don’t go again.”

Even in an election season, McQuisten stays away from politics. “If somebody brings up politics, I just walk in the other direction,” he said. He’s not planning on voting. 

As for Dog (his cat), he takes her on three 20-minute walks a day. He installed a litter box in his car. She’s becoming comfortable enough to use it while he’s driving. Sometimes, he sneaks her into gyms in his duffel bag. “She’s a cat, so sometimes, when we go for a walk, she just lies down,” he said. “But she’s learning.”

When I talked to TJ on the phone after getting back to Pittsburgh this weekend, he’d just returned from a hike in West Virginia. 

Life is now the opposite of despair. TJ is full of hope and excitement. He sees a life of opportunity, beauty, and wonder.

“Dog and I did some rock crawling and then she passed out, so I went and got some pizza,” he told me. “She was actually snoring, which was pretty cool.”

–John W. Miller–

You can follow TJ’s adventures on TikTok and Instagram.