By Katelynn Van Dusseldorp and Ash Nichols on November 13, 2020 Whether on campus or off campus, many MCADians have cat muses to keep them company and inspire their work. We caught up with their owners for a look inside their felines lives. Meet the cats of MCAD! WILLOW- 1 YEAR OLD OWNED BY PHOTOGRAPHY STUDENT RACHEL RAGGS Tell us about your cat's personality! She’s very sweet, silly, loves being held like a baby, loud purring, meows a LOT, and LOVES to cuddle! Adoption story, how'd you get your cat? I found her on Craigslist in December 2019 and she came home with me January 9. Any funny stories? She flips her food dish completely over when I am gone all day. If you could give your cat an award what would it be? Sassiest cat TOBERMORY (TOBY) - ROUGLY 1 YEAR OLD OWNED BY MADI ROUSSEAU Tell us about your cat's personality! He's very playful, but also a stinker sometimes. He likes to eat toes. Adoption story, how'd you get your cat? I got him from a friend's ex who got him online. He's a Craigslist baby. Any funny stories? One time he jumped into a toilet after one of our repair guys peed in it :( If you could give your cat an award what would it be? Best bughunter GRACIE - 8 YEARS OLD OWNED BY ILLUSTRATION STUDENT ERICA WILLIAMS Tell us about your cat's personality! Gracie is such a confident cat who makes some really weird noises. She loves to follow me around and sit at my side when I’m working. She’s super playful for being older which is fun! She loves the laser Adoption story, how'd you get your cat? I found Gracie online at the humane society when I was searching for a cat to adopt to be an ESA. Her silver coat and yellow eyes caught my attention and when I went to meet her we just clicked! Any funny stories? Nothing in particular — she’s just a goofball all around If you could give your cat an award what would it be? Best laser catcher or loudest purr! MACARONI- 5 MONTHS OLD OWNED BY PRINTMAKING STUDENT EMILY Tell us about your cat's personality! Very energetic and spunky! Adoption story, how'd you get your cat? I adopted him from a local shelter. Any funny stories? He thinks my hair is spaghetti. If you could give your cat an award what would it be? Noisiest eater/drinker LOVEY - AT LEAST 10 YEARS OLD OWNED BY ILLUSTRATION STUDENT KAITLYN MORRISON Tell us about your cat's personality! She is the queen of the house and a total brat. I'm the only one she likes out of the family and she hates everything. She gets what she wants and if not she will annoy you until she does and she needs to be the center of attention. Adoption story, how'd you get your cat? We rescued her from the humane society years ago. Her past owners took lighters above her eyes so she can never grow proper hair above them. They gathered that it happened when she was a kitten. We have no clue how old she actually is. We adopted her when I was about 7 and she was not a little baby then. I just remember going in the back room to meet her and she was the most cuddly thing and I instantly fell in love. Any funny stories? Besides the fact that she snores super loud, once she was sleeping on my bed and I heard a loud thud and she was gone. When I looked over the edge she was looking around like “What the heck happened?!”... she fell off of the bed! She likes to fight the dog who is a huge lab husky mix. She follows me everywhere I go. One time I was in class and she wanted to get in my bedroom. She was getting louder and louder so I yelled "I hear you give me a second!" She stopped and a few minutes later I opened my door and she ran back in like she totally understood me. If you could give your cat an award what would it be? Sassiest cat, best queen, grumpiest granny RUSTY AND DUSTY - 9 YEARS OLD OWNED BY GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDENT LYSSA OWENS Tell us about your cat's personalities! Dusty is a bit shy in person but loves lying on my chair during classes or on my lap. Definitely not camera shy. Rusty is a hunter, loves being outside or stealing snacks from the cabinet. Both are major cuddlers and love walking on my computer. Rusty is a drooler though so watch out if you give him chin scratches. Adoption story, how'd you get your cats? I was in elementary school when we got them, but my mom's work friend lived on a farm and her cat just gave birth to a big litter so we (my brothers and me) went one day and we sat with the cats and chose 2 of them. My older brother chose Rusty and my dad really liked Dusty. I got to help pick the names. When we brought them home and they fit right in. Any funny stories? Dusty loves plastic bags and rolling around in them. Once I left my room to change out my garbage bag and I left an old target bag out. I came back and she had her head in one of the loops and her leg was in the other one. She eventually got her leg unstuck but then walked around like it was a cape the rest of the day, as you can't mess with her plastic bags! If you could give your cats an award what would it be? Needs most attention award TOSHI - 3 YEARS OLD OWNED BY CODY KELSEY Tell us about your cat's personality! She is an absolute goblin and a sass queen. We spoil her and she knows it, and takes complete advantage of it. We don't own her, she owns us. Food is a center of her life, and she will sit and wait in our kitchen for food, follow you if she hears the fridge open then wait at your heels. If you walk away without giving her food your heels become the food. The only time she purrs is when she needs food, and if you don't get up and give her food when she's doing it those purrs are going to turn into nibbles then escalate. She loves to play tag, where if you chase her she'll run away from you and then she'll chase you back if you start running. As a kitten she used to play fetch, she's really more like a tiny dog instead of a cat. Can you tell I love my cat? I could keep on writing about her for a long time. Adoption story, how'd you get your cat? My mom had a friend who had a kitten who they found in her barn. The mother was assumed to have abandoned her as she was all alone. I'm guessing it wasn't just being abandoned, Toshi has small little tics that hint it was something worse. She was taken off of having her mother's milk too early because of this, they only fed her RAW canned fish (which was super bad). I don't know the friend my mom had gotten the cat from, but it was obvious they didn't know how to raise a kitten. We found out she had worms and fleas within the first two weeks of having her.My mom communicated with her to get Toshi, and not even two weeks later after the initial message she came home. (I have the original video of the moment we showed her to my siblings, it's really precious) Any funny stories? I was eating french toast one time and she was batting at it like it was some foreign thing, then I moved it towards her and she flew back in surprise. It never fails to make me laugh If you could give your cat an award what would it be? Number one goblin This story wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of our own cats, Crouton and Kloei! KLOEI - 9 YEARS YOUNG OWNED BY ILLUSTRATION STUDENT (AND STUDENT REPORTER!) KATELYNN VANDUSSELDORP Tell us about your cat's personality! She's very sweet and cuddly, also very sassy and demanding Adoption story, how'd you get your cat? I saw her on an adoption website for an animal shelter in my home town when I was 10 and begged my mom to let me get her. My mom said she knew Klo was meant for me so we brought her home less than a week later. Any funny stories? No specifically funny stories but she drinks water out of the toilet like a dog! I give her fresh water everyday but she just prefers the toilet water I guess. If you could give your cat an award what would it be? Best worm killer award CROUTON - 1 YEAR OLD OWNED BY GRAPHIC DESIGN STUDENT (AND STUDENT REPORTER!) ASH NICHOLS Tell us about your cat's personality! Crouton is a very confident, fearless, and mischievous young man. He’s an extremely talkative cat, and likes to sit in my windowsill and watch over campus where he talks to people walking by. He’s a very wholesome combination of sweet and feisty! Adoption story, how'd you get your cat? I only recently adopted Crouton from a local rescue organization. I was looking for a cat for awhile before I got a message that a confident young cat was dumped in a playground the night before by his prior owner. I went to meet Crouton and I knew he was my cat when he jumped up on the keys of the fosters’ piano and didn’t even get scared! I cried the whole ride home. Any funny stories? Crouton is just an entertaining cat.. He refuses to “fall” out of the windowsill but would rather hang off the sill like he’s about to fall off the edge of a cliff and hangs on for dear life! If you could give your cat an award what would it be? Best cat ever!