The original Hateful. The reason behind the name. And the cat who started all of this.

Pearl was a 20-pound black cat with the attitude of a cranky old man and the judgmental stare to match. We took her in as a stray kitten and had 12 wonderful years with her (attitude and all).

Pearl had opinions. Lots of them.

She hated selfies. Kids and their sticky little hands were highly suspicious. And allowing her food bowl to get anywhere near empty was an offense punishable by a vocal performance worthy of a banshee.

She spent her days lounging on her favorite bookshelf, silently judging the world around her and making it very clear when the humans weren't meeting expectations.

But underneath all that hateful was a whole lot of happy.

At night, Pearl's softer side would make an appearance when she'd climb onto the bed and settle directly across your chest... because apparently breathing was optional when Pearl wanted affection.

That perfectly ridiculous combination of sass and sweetness became the inspiration behind Happy and Hateful.

Pearl is no longer with us, but she's still very much at the heart of this little business. Her spirit lives on in our attitude, our designs, our black-cat obsession, and especially our commitment to helping animals who are still waiting for someone to choose them.

Because underneath the attitude, we're actually kind of nice. 🐾