At the far end of Vancouver’s bustling English Bay Beach, a steady stream of curious onlookers gravitates toward a large tree stump. Sitting on top is Mittens, a fluffy white cat wearing a bright yellow hat. Unlike many of her species, Mittens seems totally unfazed by the constant attention from strangers, even those who reach up to give her a pet. “Mittens is deaf,” notes her owner, Mark Nemethy. “Maybe that’s why she doesn’t get scared.” The unusual cat has become a local celebrity this summer. Many evenings around sunset, Nemethy will place her down in the sand near the Cactus Club Cafe, and follow her as she struts directly to her favourite perch – which she scales on her own with ease, helped by her polydactyl paws. Her arrival is sometimes heralded on the West End’s neighbourhood Facebook group. “Mittens is heading down to the beach NOW,” one member wrote last week, garnering dozens of reactions and comments. “Has anyone seen Mittens the cat lately,” inquired another the week before. Like many stars, she comes from humble beginnings. Nemethy, a 61-year-old carpenter and lifelong cat-lover, said he adopted Mittens from a friend who had discovered her in a precarious position. “She found that cat in a dumpster in Kitsilano during COVID,” he said. “How she got in there, who knows.” Nemethy quickly realized Mittens had a uniquely friendly personality, a stark contrast to his other cat, Miranda. “She’s a big tabby that’s afraid to go outside,” he said of Mittens’ sister. “If you put a hat on her, she’d rip it apart.” Mittens, however, will happily don a variety of stylish pet apparel, from sunglasses to hoodies, and seems perfectly at ease wherever she goes. She’s been introduced to new fans at the massively attended Celebration of Light fireworks festival, and even outside BC Place during Taylor Swift’s sold-out Eras Tour. “She just loves it,” Nemethy said. “She loves big crowds.” Nemethy says what he loves is seeing the way Mittens will brighten people’s day – especially those who really need a pick-me-up. He recalled being at a local McDonald’s – Mittens has a preferred seat there as well – when a woman crying on the street saw them through the window and came inside. “She said, ‘Can I sit with your cat for a little while?’” Nemethy said. “She was crying away. Then she thanked me very much and left. I didn’t ask what her situation was.” Similar encounters happen routinely at the beach, Nemethy said – people tell him they’re going through a rough time, they pet Mittens, and they walk away feeling a little less gloomy. “She could bring world peace, I think, this cat,” he added. “She could be on the cover of Time with her little yellow hat.” For now, Nemethy is building an Instagram following for Mittens, and thinking of other ways to spread her particular brand of joy. “This cat would be really good for a children’s hospital or something,” he mused. “Maybe that’ll be one of her adventures.”
