Until recently, I had no idea that there was an official Adopt-a-Cat Month®– but apparently there is. And it’s the month of June. How purrfect!  (Couldn’t help a little word play there…)

In honor of Adopt-a-Cat Month®, we compiled a list of our favorite cat (or kitten) sidekicks from literature. Of course, there are many famous felines so it’s really tough to choose just one. Here are our top picks:

• Nadia voted for all of the Harry Potter cats: Crookshanks, Mrs. Norris, and, of course, Professor McGonagall in cat-form (she is an Animagus, after all…).
• Alex was quick to nominate the Cheshire Cat from the childhood classic Alice in Wonderland. Catherine (one of our new interns– you’ll meet her soon!) seconded that, noting that she likes Alice’s cat, Dinah.
• Tyler’s pick was Figaro from Pinocchio (a timeless tale involving a timeless tail!)
• Cat sidekicks don’t just exist in books. For example, Anne likes Hobbes from the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes”.
• Jessica reminded us that there are also Mittens, Tom Kitten, and Moppet from Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Tom Kitten (Anyone else used to love that book?)
• Lovers of Plain Kate will be pleased to know that Taggle clawed his way to the top of Lauren’s list.
• Michael nominated Saladin from The 39 Clues, calling him “quintessentially catty.” He explained, “He’s very picky. He holds a grudge. He resents any reminder that he is not in charge. But he’s also a great friend and will whip out the claws when he needs to defend a Cahill!” 
• And who could forget Snowbell from Stuart Little?! He’s one of Megan‘s favorites.

Plus, there’s Chester from The Bunnicula Collection, Socks from Beverly Cleary’s book of the same title, and Buttercup from The Hunger Games trilogy. Which sidekicks do you think are the cat’s pajamas? Let us know in the comments!

Image via Pargon