Cherishing Furry, Feathered and Scaly Friends of McKinley
After returning from winter break in 2024, Chase Chan (c/o 2025), was introduced to a particular cat near the MS-Building by a friend, Jenny Cheng (c/o 2025). After being shown a video of the cat and being told the location, Chan went to see for himself.
“I was surprised that there was even a cat on campus,” Chan said.
Chan found out a teacher in MS-building took care of the cat, so he went over and asked if he could be responsible for taking care of the cat. Chan was permitted to take care of the cat, and now every day in the morning he feeds and hangs out with the cat.
“I call the cat Sushi, but other people call it different names like Truffle,” Chan said.
Chan said Sushi is different from other cats. This is because of her energetic nature, and friendly personality with others. Sometimes meowing at those who pass by. Sushi also likes to be pet on the belly, which many other cats are not fond of. Though recently she’s been selective about who she wants to be with.
“Sushi usually chooses to sit with me and let me pet her more,” Chan said.
Chan said that if someone is interested in getting a pet cat, do your research on what kind of cat suits you.
“A cat is codependent on you for emotional and physical needs,” Chan says. “You also need to have the time to take care of one.” “There are many different types of cats, and if a cat is not interested in you it’s okay,” Chan said. “There are other cats that could be interested in you.”
Autumn Perdido (c/o 2026) is a first time pet owner as she got Teddy the tortoise in July, around her birthday. For a while, Perdido wasn’t able to have a tortoise due to her grandma having superstitions that having one will bring bad luck.
“After she passed, my mom was like ‘okay we can get a tortoise,’” Perdido said.
Teddy lives in a big clear container with things such as a heating lamp, water/food station, and an area where he can sleep. Perdido said it things requires lots of space, along with money and time.
“It’s going to be a pretty big investment, because I’m going to be taking care of her for a very long time,” Perdido said.
Perdido said that Teddy has a number of unique quirks, such as really loving cucumbers.
“Whenever she sees cucumbers, she automatically devours the whole thing. No matter if I just fed her,” Perdido said.
Whenever Perdido’s friends comes over, she would take out Teddy from her enclosure and let her free roam around the house, feeding her as well.
“They’re usually interested in Teddy,” Perdido said.
Tortoise can live for a long time when kept in captivity, from 10 to 20 years, other species live even longer. If kept in the right environment while living in captivity, tortoises can live up from 80 to 150 years.
“She’ll live till I’m around 70,” Perdido said.
Natash Taketa, McKinley’s choir and theater teacher, has six furry companions she watches over while working as a teacher. The first cat adopted was Ash, a Russian Blue Grey Cat, in 2013. Taketa got Ash from Petco which partners with the Humane Society to help animals find homes.
“[Ash] is very laid back, very much sure of himself. He loves people, and is not afraid to say hi to strangers,” Taketa said.
A fond memory Taketa has of Ash was he was comforting her after the loss of a loved one. Ash recognized she was sad.
“Ash came up to me one day when I was crying, and put his paw on my lap and was like ‘Are you okay?’” Taketa said.
The second cat Taketa has is a ginger cat named Whyskers, which she saved on accident. Taketa heard the crying screams of kitten and she found Whyskers, who had almost been run over by a car. Once she found him she took him in, and he’s been with her ever since.
“Whyskers is the opposite of Ash, as he has social anxiety. He sees or hears something strange, he runs away,” Taketa said. “But other than that, he loves attention, always trying to pick a fight because he wants to be a dominant cat.”
Socks is a cat Taketa adopted from a rental that she was at before. Before Taketa had a bird feeder, but it slowly turned into a cat feeder because Socks would sneakily run up and catch the birds as they ate. Socks was a very good hunter and would catch a bird every time. This was due to her living in the wild for a while on her own, before Taketa adopted her.
“Now we try to avoid birds so that she doesn’t kill them,” Taketa said. Elsa, the only dog in the pack, was inherited after the passing of her grandmother. At the same time Taketa also inherited a cat named Violi. The two are opposites. Elsa is rambunctious. Violi likes to do his own thing, being a little timid. One thing both have in common is they are both outdoor pets.
“Elsa always wants attention, is very protective, and wants to be in your lap,” Taketa said. “Violi likes to be outdoors and does his own thing.”
Moving on to the final member of the group, Sophie was adopted from Ms. Kamakawiwaole, a substitute teacher at McKinley, after she found a litter of kittens that needed homes.
“Sophie is the little brat of the group, always wanting attention and when she doesn’t want it she’ll snap at you like a diva,” Taketa said.
Despite this Sophie is loved by everyone Taketa says. Taketa once brought Sophie to her classroom in May 2022, as she could not be left alone and needed to be bottle fed. Upon bringing Sophie to school, multiple students instantly fell in love with her.
“Can I play with the cat? Can I hold the cat? I want to be with the cat!” Taketa said that was some of the reactions her students had.
For those who are looking to get an animal companion, Taketa said while it may be good for you and make you happy, she wants you to ask yourself do you have the time needed to love and care for the animal? Cats are better if you are busy like her, as they are solitary creatures; not always needing attention. Taketa said that dogs always require attention, wanting to be walked and played with.
“They love their owners to death,” Taketa said.
When also looking for an animal, Taketa said it is more important to adopt than buy. She said you could buy a purebred dog that can cost upwards to $5,000, but if you go to the Humane Society you can get them for $25 for a small animal to $350 for a large animal; sometimes they have so many animals that they’ll give them to you for free after doing the necessary background checks.
“Remember to adopt,” Taketa said. “So many of them don’t have homes.”
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