Who’s the Triangle’s cutest cat? Meet the ‘pawsitively playful’ kitty who won our contest
We already crowned the cutest dog in the Triangle area. Now, the time has come to reveal the most picture-perfect cat around town.
After taking in more than 100 nominations for adorable cats and kittens in Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham, one “pawsitively playful cat who’s always up to cat-astrophic mischief” collected the most votes in The News & Observer’s contest: Winnifred, also known as Winnie.
Meet Winnie
Winnie was adopted as a kitten from Purr Partners Feline Rescue about three years ago after her pawrents moved to Raleigh.
After losing their previous cat, Ryan Schaller said he and his wife had planned to eventually bring another pet into their home. But that happened sooner rather than later once they met Winnie.
“My wife had been keeping tabs on adoption websites, and when she saw Winnie, she kind of had that voice that was like, ‘Hey this isn’t a discussion anymore. We are going to get this cat,’” he said.
Knowing they wanted to get a pair of cats, they not only got Winnie, but her sister, Margaret, too.
“We ended up getting both of those sisters together, but it was Winnie’s cuteness and personality, playfulness, that kinda won us over.”
“When she was a little younger, she would climb our shower curtains. We had to childproof our house because she kept opening cabinets. Like the joke ‘the dog ate the homework’ but when she will literally just tear up any paper in the house…She was just constantly looking for mischief and something to do.”
Three years later, she’s still got that same rambunctious energy — the opposite of her sister, who is much more of a relaxed “lap cat.”
“Everyone talks about working dogs and having to keep them busy, but she’s basically a working cat, like a fox or something. If you don’t keep her entertained, she’s absolutely gonna get into something,” Schaller explained.
“As much as she gets into a lot of trouble, she loves being a part of all the action and it’s fun having a cat that’s always around and in the mix to keep things interesting.”
While there were a lot of other adorable kittens in our contest, Schaller says he thinks Winnie — also coincidentally nicknamed “Win Win” — has a unique look, which may have helped her take home the title of Cutest Cat.
“We always talk about what’s the cutest part of Winnie. Is it the white chin? Is it the orange striped leg that doesn’t really fit in with the rest of her? She’s got what looks like the mismatch of a bunch of different cats so I think it’s kind of just her uniqueness that kind of sets her apart that we really love,” Schaller said.
When Purr Partners heard the news, they told the Schallers: “That is so wonderful! She truly is the cutest cat so no surprise at all that she won! Congratulations, and tell her to remember where she came from!”
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Who’s the Triangle’s cutest cat? Meet the ‘pawsitively playful’ kitty who won our contest."
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