Cat City: That’s what we should really call Portland, one of the nation’s cat-lady strongholds. Cat ladies get a bad rap, perhaps because a woman who takes care of an adorable creature that isn’t a human baby is instantly threatening to our puritan overlords. Well, secret’s out: Cat ladies are wonderful, and I should know. If they didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have any friends. Here are just four of Portland’s most intriguing cat ladies. They taught me a lot about pet care, fighting cat-lady stigma, witches, and human kindness—things that arguably make Portland, and the world, a better place.
Wendy Weiss, 26
Wendy is a stand-up and stripper. Her cat, Jasper, is a three-year-old black domestic shorthair.
How did you and your cat meet?
Jasper used to live in a house brimming with dogs who kicked his ass. His only escape was the outdoors, which was brimming with cats who kicked his ass. I thought he was too cute to keep getting his ass kicked and I love saving pathetic things, so I took him home to live in my ass-kick-free apartment.