Pet: P. Kitty, about 9 years old, female, domestic shorthair tuxedo.

Owner: Sarah Han, San Francisco, CA

How I got my name: Pun on P. Diddy.

How we met: P. Kitty and I met in the summer of 2000. I was walking to a friend’s house from the office when a tiny black and white fuzzball caught my eye. A kitten was hiding in the corner of a warehouse doorway, out of view from most passersby. I walked over and stooped down to see if it was friendly, but the kitty immediately backed further into the corner, bared its fangs, and hissed at me. I knew it was homeless and needed help, as it was very skinny and had fleas visibly running all over its face. I ran back to the office and grabbed a shoebox and an oven mitt and moments later had the kitten in the box.

I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do at that point; I didn’t really intend to become a cat owner and because I lived with two roommates (one with a dog), I didn’t think I could just bring the cat home with me. I took the kitty back to the office and asked some co-workers what to do. They said I could leave the kitten in a closed off office for one night until the next day, when I could take it (we still didn’t know the sex at this point) to the SPCA. The copy editors at my office were more than happy to take the kitty in and named it “TK,â€? (a copy editing notation that means “to comeâ€?). Before leaving, I made a makeshift litterbox and I got some kitten food from the pet store nearby. The next day, I brought little TK to the SPCA, but was told that they didn’t take in animals off the street and that I’d have to bring her to Animal Care and Control where it was a possibility (if not likely) that she’d be put down. When I heard this, I knew I had become a cat owner. I called my roommates and made sure they were OK with me keeping the kitten. They said yes! And that was when our lifelong friendship began. Promptly afterwards, I renamed her P. Kitty and found out that she was in fact a female cat.

_{Back in the day when P and I were younger. That black speck on my head was embedded in the photo, unfortunately.}

Personality type: She’s got a ton of personality. She’s tough but sweet, loving but not obsequious. One moment she’s purring and loving you, the next she might not be so friendly.

_{Biggie and P}

Siblings: Biggie Smalls, her 6-year-old sister of another mother and father.

Pet peeves: When Biggie gets attention, even if P is getting pet at the same time. Being moved from comfortable, warm spots.

_{Hamming it up}

Favorite place to lounge: Under a blanket with Sarah. If not, on her heated cat bed.

Favorite foods: Food isn’t really a big deal to P, but see #7.

Forbidden indulgences: A flick of ice cream or anything with cream in it. She used to love sleeping on the stove but I got her the heated bed so she’d stop doing it (she once singed her tail on a still-warm stove top).

_{Record sleeves are so fun to lick}

Strangest habits: Licking LP sleeves and other plastic items.

Stand-out physical feature: Several people have remarked that P. has “interesting markings� for a tuxedo cat.

Things you might not know if I didn’t tell or show you: P. Kitty is on the cover of Drunk Horse’s album Adult Situations and on a friend’s leg in the form of a tattoo. The first vet who saw P. Kitty determined that she was a male cat, explaining her male-inspired name.

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