One cat sleeps, two cats pounce on each other and a fourth eats from an aluminum bowl: all in the spacious backyard of Sophomore Sarah Kate Feliciano’s house. Feliciano’s friends know her as “the Cat Lady” due to her love of the furry felines, and she lives up to the name by owning eight cats.
She enjoys showing off her love by wearing cat-themed clothing and talking about felines with friends, but if someone had talked to her a couple of years earlier, her attitude would have been quite different.
“I was a dog person,” Feliciano said. “My family didn’t own cats, and I thought that they didn’t have a purpose.”
Her negative perspective of cats remained the same until the age of ten when she received her first feline, Parker, from her uncle. After he couldn’t take care of the male Siamese anymore, he gave him to her family.
“Parker’s one of the best things that has happened to me,” Feliciano said. “I feel so lucky that I have that cat.”
The two have developed a strong bond over the years. Parker has cheered up, cuddled and interrupted her more times than she can remember. She realizes now that he is an unforgettable part of her life.
At this moment, Feliciano is taking care of three more cats as well as a litter of kittens. With more pets to watch over, she feels a lot of stress.
“Though cats are very independent, having eight costs so much,” Feliciano said. “I have to feed them in seven bowls so that they can each get food.”
Alongside this responsibility is a different obstacle that she faces: the stereotype of one person living with too many cats. Even though she hears it from time to time, Feliciano surprisingly views the old expression positively.
“I kind of love it when people call me a crazy cat lady,” Feliciano said. “It reminds me that I have all these cats to come home to.”
The reason Feliciano holds her cats in such high regard is because of their individualistic natures and personalities. Even though she knows not everyone feels as positively about cats as she does, she hopes that in the future, people will come to understand the great value of owning one.
“People say that dogs are loyal, but I think that cats are very personal,” said Feliciano. “They’re just like humans.”
TCHS School Newspaper