On this #blackcatappreciationday, a special post for our handsome boy Cato, who crossed the rainbow bridge last month 💔🌈 I’ve been meaning to post about him but it’s been hard. Today’s a good day to finally put together this tribute.
He was Norman’s cat when we met; Norman didn’t know too much about his backstory, other than he’d been returned to Kitten Rescue because he bit a kid. He was of indeterminate age—they figured maybe around 6. He was also hanging out all by himself in the office away from the general population because he did not like other cats. Soon after Norman started fostering him it was discovered that he had stomatitis, an autoimmune condition where the body starts attacking the gums, causing painful inflammation. He eventually had to get all his teeth removed, and Norman despaired that a 6 year old black cat with a bad attitude and no teeth would ever get adopted, so he adopted him (sucker 😝) . His original name was Charlie, but Norman changed it to Cato (pronounced “Kay-to”) because he loved to hide and jump out at you like the chauffeur character in the Pink Panther movies. He was absolutely chill with people (except for that kid he bit) but was still a total jerk to other cats, so we had to work out a system to keep him separated from my cats, BB and CC. It was a challenge, but we made it work, because he was worth it.
His distinctive feature: He started out with all black whiskers, but one by one they turned white until he had a magnificent set of white bow tie whiskers. Some of the stuff he loved: sleeping by Norman’s head; chilling out on the back of the couch while we were on it, occasionally rubbing his face into our hair; he loved his heated mat, especially when we put the cardboard box with windows cut out (“Cato’s Tavern”) over it; his homemade fish toy, which he’d drag out when we were gone. So many great memories with our little boy; we miss him dearly. RIP, Cato, hope you’re living your best afterlife somewhere. 🖤
Stephanie Han Art & Design 