An Anderson feline has been named the coolest cat, not just in town, but in the entire country.
Coco the cat, 1.5, and her owner Courtney Hofer, 12, are featured in the September issue of Disney Adventures as winners of the magazine’s annual Cool Pet Contest. Of the more than 350 entries from around the county, only five winners were chosen.
Courtney entered the contest in January when she wrote to the magazine describing what made Coco special. In May she learned she had won.
“I felt excited,” said the soft-spoken sixth-grader at South Side Middle School.
In her letter, Courtney wrote that Coco (named after perfumer Coco Chanel) likes to sleep with her face in Courtney’s armpit and that she has the uncanny ability to open the bathroom door on her own.
Courtney, the daughter of Kim Wagoner and Bill Hofer, has two other cats, Emily and Bully. She said they were just a little jealous that Coco was getting so much attention. But she loves all three cats equally, she said.
Disney Adventures senior editor Deborah Way said they received entries from all kinds of animals, from small lizards to full-grown horses.
“It was very hard to narrow it down to five because we had so many great entries,” she said. “We were looking for unusual talents and creativity in the way those talents were described.”
Courtney’s entry stood out because of her clear description of Coco’s quirks, Way said.
The four other winning pets were a rabbit that dances, a hedgehog that’s not afraid of anything, a terrier that can walk on his front paws and a gecko that knows his multiplication tables.
She said she’s a big animal lover, but doesn’t think she’s the type of person who would own a hedgehog or gecko.
Maybe that’s because she’s doing such a great job with cats.
Courtney said, however, “I thought it was cool for them to win, too.”
