3 cats tied as the cutest in the Tacoma area. Meet Kaya, Indy and Kirby
The cutest cat in the Tacoma area…is actually three cats.
Readers of The News Tribune voted, and a trio of fetching felines — including two from the same household — snagged the most votes in the cutest cat contest that launched in October.
More than two-dozen cats from in and near Pierce County were entered into the contest, and Kaya, Indy and Kirby emerged as the winners after two rounds of voting.
Now they’ll be entered into a second contest to determine the cutest cat in the country across more than 20 McClatchy newspapers, launching Monday, Nov. 10.
Here’s more about The News Tribune’s three first-place winners:
Meet Indy and Kaya, ‘twist and shout’
Kaya and Indy live with Shannon Sargent in Tacoma.
Kaya, 2, joined the household ahead of Indy, adopted as a kitten.
She’s shier than her brother, although she loves to cuddle with Sargent and play with Indy.
Meanwhile, Indy, 1, was found abandoned in the yard of one of Sargent’s friends.
The cat siblings have been described as “twist and shout,” Sargent said, because Indy sometimes relaxes in pretzel-like shapes and Kaya can be vocal.
For example, “When I try to put her in the carrier, she’ll say, ‘No!’” Sargent said.
The two cats get along well, and Sargent said they make every day brighter.
“They have brought a lot of love to my life. They have brought a lot of comfort. It’s impossible not to smile when you’re around them,” Sargent said.
Meet Kirby the ‘sweetheart’
Kirby has a way of making the day brighter, too, said Scott Craig, one of her humans.
Kirby, 4, has “kind of always been like my puppy — meeting me at the door when I get home, following me around,” Craig told The News Tribune.
Kirby even responds when called and will occasionally play fetch.
Craig’s partner, Katie, from California, is Kirby’s other human. Kirby also has a soft spot for Craig’s dad, Jim.
Scott Craig said Kirby has “added companionship” to life.
Craig — who also shares cats Annie and Evel with Katie — jokes that “if I could find a way to monetize the fur coming off of (Kirby), that would be amazing, because there’s so much.”
But Craig’s love for Kirby is no joke: “She’s a little sweetheart,” Craig said.
.JPG)