We have our final four for Wichita’s cutest cat. But who should be the winner?

The Eagle’s cutest cat contest has come down to a battle between tuxedos, torties and tabbies.

Over four rounds of voting, Eagle subscribers have helped narrow the field of adorable cats from more than 150 to the final four. Now it’s time for readers to choose the No. 1 cat.

Voting on the final four will go from Tuesday, Nov. 26, to 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 1. Then the winner will be featured in an Eagle story in December.

Here are the finalists:

• Our oldest finalist, Calvin the tuxedo cat, comes to us from Montana, where his owner, Grace Henderson, adopted him as a kitten 17 years ago. Henderson said Calvin “was thought to have been abandoned by his mother, so I adopted him and my brother adopted Calvin’s sister, Nosey.”
• Then there’s 12-year-old Tifa, a tortoiseshell who started out as a foster cat for her owner, Phyllis D., after Tifa was attacked and nearly killed in a friend’s home. “I took her in, clinging to life and nursed her back to health. ... She had to wear a cone for months, she dropped a ton of weight but she made a full recovery and is just the sweetest cat in the world.”
• The finalists also include Tifa’s sister, 5-year-old Beans. Phyllis, who didn’t want to share her full name for privacy reasons, adopted the tuxedo cat after a big move. “She chose me at the shelter, she sat in my lap and then smacked another cat in the face. She’s been my best friend ever since.”
• Finally, there’s 1-year-old Piper, a tabby has already made a huge difference in her family, converting Greg Kalkwarf and his wife from no-pet people to cat owners — with the help of their daughter, 12-year-old Teagan. Greg found Piper on the side of a rural Sedgwick County road in November 2023. After the family tried to find her owner, Teagan ended up claiming Piper as her own, keeping her as a “garage cat,” where she’s defended the home from all sorts of critters. “Most importantly,” Greg said, “Piper has had an amazing impact on Teagan — taking care of her daily food and water, cleaning out the litter box, and providing each other with more unconditional love than I have ever seen.”
  
  

Eagle subscribers can vote on any of those cats as many times as they wish until Sunday, Dec. 1.

Remember: This poll isn’t scientific, just for fun!

This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 5:00 AM.

Chandler Boese

The Kansas City Star

(816) 336-9492

Chandler Boese manages the audience service team at The Kansas City Star as they engage with readers and write stories that help Kansas Citians live their best lives. A KU grad, she’s worked in journalism since 2018 and with The Star since 2022.