Meet Burnaby resident Fig, a.k.a Figgy, an eight-month-old Scottish Fold-British Shorthair kitten who has been crowned Mr. March for Bosley’s by Pet Valu’s 2023 calendar.
The back-sleeping cuddly kitten wrapped in a cozy blanket, who has a secret undying love for the freezer and trash, is a face of the month in the 2023 calendar brought out by Pet Valu across Canada.
The calendar featuring 15 Canadian pets is issued annually, and will help raise funds for pets and pet parents in need. Fig was among the 15,500 entries across Canada.
To celebrate Fig and his newfound fame, hometown store Bosley’s by Pet Valu on Columbia Square (1015 Columbia Street, Unit 114, New Westminster) is exhibiting his winning photo in a big display along with some fun facts about him.
Fig's owner, Natasha Wong, is proud that her kitten was chosen as one of the winners of the contest.
"I'm a new cat mom, and he was only four months old," Wong said. " I didn't have any landscape orientation photos, so I almost didn't enter."
But fate had other plans. "The next morning, I just saw Figgy sleeping on his back and I thought it was just so cute. This might be my chance. So I tucked him under his blanket and took a few photos."
Initially, she said, she didn't think much of the result as it was an on-the-fly first-time entry, but was indeed delighted when Fig's photograph was chosen to be featured in the calendar.
"He's just like such a sweet and gentle boy," Wong said. "He's cuddly in the mornings. He loves the freezer, so every time we open the freezer, he'll go and start licking the walls of the freezer. Really strange."
"And every time he is hungry, he will just come to us and he'll just fall — plop — on the floor and show his belly lying on the floor, which is really cute. He's just a gentle sweet cat."
@itsfiggyboy Day in the life of figgy boy #funnycats #kittensoftiktok #catsoftiktok #dayinthelife #funnypets #scottishstraight ♬ original sound - Lachie Kay
Wong jokes that Figgy knows he is a little model — posing for photos whenever an opportunity arises — and has his own dedicated social media fan base on TikTok and Instagram, with over a million views and a viral video.
Wong and her partner got Figgy when he was two months old, and it was love at first sight — they knew he was the one the moment they laid eyes on him.
Alison Preiss from Pet Valu spoke about the beauty of Fig, "Fig is just snuggled up in soft bedding and just the colour palette with the blues and the beige and orange with this little pink nose.... I think it's just such a beautiful photo and it makes me want to take a nap with him."
While he is Burnaby's only superstar featured in the calendar, 12 other Canadian pets are featured including dogs, cats, a guinea pig, a budgie and a bearded dragon.
Other B.C. stars in the calender include Yoda, the bearded dragon from Vancouver, who is Mr. June.
Indie, the border collie-Australian shepherd cross from Vancouver Island- Nanaimo is Miss August, and Maple is from Fort St. John.
The calendars will be available in all Pet Valu stores, outside of Quebec, for give-what-you-can donations. Preiss said while they don't have targets for the national fundraiser, the calendars will be available as long as stocks last.
The proceeds will support Pet Valu’s Companions for Change initiatives, which since 2010 have raised over $24 million in funds and helped more than 42,000 homeless animals find their forever families.
"We are always impressed by how giving and wonderful our customers are," she said. "All of the funds raised go towards our companions for change program and we aim to make a big impact — things like helping to build a new animal adoption centre in North Bay. Some money towards the Canadian Animal Task Force. They're going to purchase two animal support vehicles to improve the safety of communities and $100,000 to the Edmonton Humane Society to support a mobile spay neuter vehicle."
