The Pets Issue 2025

Here’s the thing—my cat Blue died two weeks ago. Not the chipper intro you expected with the cute hedgehog on the cover? Bear with me for a moment.

We had Blue for almost 13 years, and during that time, damn near half the musicians in this town stayed at our house and cat-sat for us while my husband and I toured. They hunted her down from neighbors’ bushes while we played folk in Phoenix, sent us pictures of her tuxedo belly while we were homesick in Berlin. Once I met a Grammy winner at a show in Portland and she said, “I know you! I’ve snuggled in your bed!”

We loved Blue immensely, and you know what that cat really did? She taught us how much we love our friends and they love us—to come to Blue’s rescue last minute when a canceled flight stranded me in New York, to send us flowers when she passed. Sometimes it takes a pet to remind us of the kind of love and compassion we’re capable of on the day-to-day because the current world certainly isn’t bringing it out of us.

For this year’s pets issue, we’re thinking about the kindness that animals draw from us. Our annual pet pageant winners, like this year’s Chib or Sir Tater of Tots, are the kind of heart melters any of us would be eager to help. We’re also contemplating the lengths we’ll go to love our pet—that could be finding them resources even when experiencing homelessness, with Blanchet House, or tending to rats with behavioral issues or chronic illnesses that make them tough adoption cases. It can also mean calling on Compassionate Care, an at-home euthanasia service, to help you send your pet off peacefully when that time arrives.

Maybe this feels a little melancholy for you—but so’s the world, so let’s try and face it. Let’s look at what we’ve got and find an appreciation there. Hold your furry ones close, and don’t forget to hug the humans, too. Embrace that love.—Robin Bacior, Arts & Culture Editor