Kittypet

## **General Description**

A **kittypet** is the term used by Clan cats for domesticated cats who live with humans that look after them. Sometimes, the term "housecat" will also be used. Kittypets are usually deemed to be plump or fat, lazy, dumb, and unmotivated animals who lead boring, uneventful lives and don't really do very much with their time except complain and be miserable. According to the founding leaders of the Clans and the warrior honor code that they created, all Clan warriors must reject a kittypet's comfortable, pampered lifestyle. A Clan cat choosing to leave to become a kittypet is considered one of the greatest insults imaginable, and those who do so are permanently shunned by their former Clanmates and banished from Clan territory altogether. Additionally, the sheer majority of Clan cats are hostile to kittypets, believing them to be a burden to the Clan, and label them as inferior, soft, useless, untrustworthy, spoiled, greedy, and dangerous. Clan cats often use the term itself as an insult to indicate that the recipient is a poor hunter, fighter, swimmer, or tracker. When they die, kittypets go to different afterlives depending on the kind of life they lived; if they were honorable and kind, then they'd continue to walk in the waking world as spirits; however, if they committed crimes or treated others cruelly, then they'd be sent to the Dark Forest, the residence for the spirits of treacherous, power-hungry Clan warriors who'd committed atrocities for their own personal gain.

## **Physical Appearance**

Most kittypets are either plump or fat, have sleek, soft, well-groomed pelts and wear collars around their necks so their owners can identify them. Some, however, are thin, lean, and well-muscled, have scarred, patchy, ragged, or matted pelts (or a combination), and don't wear collars. Some have combinations of the above traits (i.e.: a large, lean, well-muscled cat with a sleek pelt, nicked ears, and a collar). A few also wear other accessories, such as bows, bandanas, or flowers. All kittypets (as well as former Clan cats who become kittypets) have or gain the ability to walk upright and use their forepaws to grab things like a human. This is called anthropomorphism, and cats who can do this are referred to as anthros.

## **Personality**

In some cases, the stereotype is true: some kittypets are lazy, which leads to no motivation whatsoever to change their lives. They are also either depressed or very grumpy. However, this may be a result of the cat getting spayed or neutered by their human owners while they were at the veterinarian. Other kittypets, however, can either be friendly, kind, compassionate, and pleasant to be around, or hostile, aggressive, selfish, and cruel. Kittypets who are rude to their owners or housemates (other kittypets living in the same household as them) are usually punished by being put outside, and, in some cases, having a lead such as a rope or chain attached to their collar or secured around their neck to prevent them from running off. Some humans put harnesses on their cats and attach the leads on those to prevent the cat from choking while on the lead. Cats who misbehave may also be punished by being sent into a certain spot or room in their house to be isolated for a certain period, or by being put in a cage.

## **Diet**

According to the Clan cats, most kittypets tend to eat dry food that comes in the form of little round brown or greenish-colored pellets or wet food in the form of soft, light brown meaty slop covered in darker, foul-smelling liquid. In some cases, like Blackheart's, kittypets are fed either red or white meat. They may also sometimes eat human food, though many kittypets are discouraged from doing so due to human food being extremely unhealthy. Despite this, some kittypets, like Blackheart, are able to tolerate and digest human food. Some humans tend to feed their cats multiple times a day; this, combined with lack of exercise, causes them to get fat and gain weight, which leads to later health problems. Other humans will only feed their cats two or three times a day in order to keep them healthy so they can live longer.