This D.C. cat may have had some scary-looking fangs, but her foster mom says she's more into belly rubs than hunting.
Meet Gabana, a 10-year-old tortoiseshell cat looking for a forever home after her previous owner moved away.
When Gabana arrived at D.C.'s Humane Rescue Alliance, she sported a notable pair of fangs, with one protruding more than the other. Her fangs shot her to popularity on Reddit, where she gained more than 5,800 upvotes. Users on the Washington, D.C. Reddit page complimented her look, with some saying they hope she'll find a forever home soon.
However, the protruded fang made Gabana's lip move differently, so she had to have it removed, her foster parent Marissa Clingen said. The remaining fang is now more of a snaggletooth that doesn't stick out as much. Clingen said that Gabana's lip moves normally now and she can eat easily now.
Gabana's been a foster cat in Clingen's Rockville, Maryland, home since July due to overcrowding at the shelter. Clingen, a long-term foster parent, liked how Gabana looked like a vampire version of her own cat.
When Clingen saw Gabana's high-fashion-inspired name, she thought the shelter had taken in a pair of cats named for the high-end brand Dolce and Gabbana.
"I was expecting there to be a Dolce too but she's a really pretty cat without fangs," Clingen said.
Instead, there's just Gabana. She hasn't let the fame of her name get to her head, though. She's a very low-maintenance cat and very affectionate, according to Clingen.
"She loves to rub up against you and she purrs loudly," Clingen said. "She loves when I read, she's constantly in my face with a book."
Gabana would be a good cat for a quiet home, Clingen said.
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"She doesn't mind alone time," Clingen said. "She just wants to sit next to you and purr and be affectionate."
While Gabana is a senior cat who likes to lay around, she's still very spunky and talkative for her age.
"She'll be hiding somewhere in the room then she'll come out and [she'll say] 'meow meow'," Clingen said.
You can meet Gabana and other animals looking for forever homes this Saturday, when NBC and Telemundo stations team up with animal shelters across the country for their Clear the Shelters event. Adoption fees will be waived at the D.C. Humane Rescue Alliance's locations on New York Avenue in Northeast and on Oglethorpe Street in Northwest. Gabana will be at the New York Avenue location that day.
See Gabana's adoption profile here, and find more participating shelters in your area here.
