The cat Janice has died after a long battle with cancer. She was 31 years old.
On Wednesday, the TikTok star’s family wrote a sad Instagram post on the singer-songwriter’s account to say that she had died.
“This morning, from her childhood home and surrounded by her loving family, Catherine peacefully entered the light and love of her heavenly creator,” the post on social media said.
“We are eternally thankful for the outpouring of love that Catherine and our family have received over the past few months.”
“Cat saw her music go places she never thought it would, and she rests easy knowing that her music will continue to support her son,” the family said.
“This would not have been possible without all of you.”
Cat became well-known by talking about her cancer on TikTok and other social media sites while still making music.
According to Washingtonian, the talented artist was a musician from Washington, DC. Her full name was Catherine Janice Ipsan.
The 31-year-old mother leaves behind a son named Loren, who was her inspiration.
DC musician and “longtime partner” Footwerk, whose real name is Kyle Higginbotham, she married in December 2023.
Janice’s website says that she grew up in “a vastly musical family” and learned to play the violin and piano when she was very young.
“What followed was 18 years of classical training, with valuable time spent as part of orchestral productions, jazz bands, and theatre shows,” the biography said.
“The D.C. music world would soon embrace the young artist as both a pop sensation and a writer/producer to watch that diversity flourish all the more so.”
“Driving with a fine fusion of emotional integrity and enchanting, energizing musicianship, songwriter and artist Cat Janice delivers a fresh thread of artistry to the modern music scene,” her website says.
“The indie gem presents a skilful [sic] balance of soaring vocals, snappy guitar lines and euphoric synths, for a uniquely immersive take on contemporary pop.”
“Cat’s versatility knows no bounds, proving both exciting and deeply human,” it goes on to say.
WHAT A CAT SAYS
Janice has been recognized for her skills more than once.
Her website says that in 2019, she won the WAMMY (Washington Area Music Award) for Best Rock Artist in the DC metropolitan area. In 2020, her single “Pricey” was featured in the popular Netflix show “Selling Sunset.”
She was also “an active member” of the Grammy Recording Academy. In 2020, she started Love Earth A Little More as part of the Global Environment Media as an environmental project.
Janice had a lot of fans on social media. Her TikTok account had over 363,000 followers, and her Instagram page had over 35,000 followers.
DEFEAT OF CANCER
Janice talked about her cancer diagnosis and symptoms in a TikTok video from November 11, 2022.
She said she “didn’t think anything of it” at first when she felt a lump on her neck in November 2021.
She saw the lump again in March 2022. It was “very hard,” bigger, “did not move,” and it wasn’t hurting her.
Janice also had “really bad knots” in the back of her shoulder. It turned out that a tumor in her scalene muscle was to blame.
To make a long story short, I got this really random, weird, and rare tumor. “There are only about 10 known to have happened in the world,” she said.
People said that Janice had surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation after being diagnosed with sarcoma, which they called “a rare malignant tumor.”
In a TikTok video posted on July 22, 2022, she said that she no longer had cancer.
The singer did say in a video from June 5, 2023, that the cancer had come back and was now in her lungs.
“I’m gonna go back into treatment, and I’m going to be really effing strong about it, and I’m gonna let you guys know what’s going on, and thank you so much for loving me,” she said.
She kept making music and posting more videos to social media for her fans while she was going through her second cancer battle.
In this video from January 10, 2024, Janice told her followers more sad news.
“I am finally back home from hospice.” Don’t know when I’ll be back. “Tumors pretty much tripled overnight,” she wrote.
“Cancer makes it almost impossible to talk.” “This song is for my son,” she said as she introduced a new song and asked her fans to save it ahead of time.