Published Mar 19, 2024
Instagram: Ari_the_Panther
Ari the black cat has never met an almond she didn’t love…then hate, then love again, then eventually “murder.” Just ask her human, Liz.
Her wild side
According to Liz, Ari wasn’t always the eccentric feline she is today. When her human adopted her from the animal rescue organization Best Friends—New York in 2018, Ari was still firmly in her shell.
“It’s almost like she was a little afraid to show us [who she was] at first,” Liz explained to The Dodo. “It’s like when you open up to somebody and show them your wild side.”
But, boy oh boy, did Ari’s wild side start to shine.
Watch out for Ari’s ninja kicks and fluffy crab walks! / Instagram: Ari_the_Panther
The more comfortable she became at home, Ari’s quirky mannerisms and crafty personality bubbled to the surface.
She’ll zoom up and down hallways, peer around corners with “crazy eyes,” and perform so-called “ninja kicks” off the wall to show her power, according to Liz. Ari also became known online for her “fluffy crab walks,” when the fur on her arched back stands tall—a sign that can be associated with aggression or defensiveness in many felines. But for Ari, Liz explained, that’s not at all the case.
When Ari goes into fluffy crab walk mode, “it’s almost a sign of trust.”
Almond joy
But another odd trait emerged one day at home: Ari’s love-hate obsession with almonds.
So many almonds, so little time! / Instagram: Ari_the_Panther
It all started with a nut.
“She has a really short attention span for most toys, so I gave her an almond to play wit, and she never got bored of it,” Liz told The Dodo. “She just continuously loved that almond.”
Ari has played with “hundreds, thousands—I don’t even know how many” almonds throughout the years, Liz said. “She’ll stuff them in places [and] I’ll never see them again.”
Liz said they’re perfect for playing fetch and the ideal shape and size to fit squarely in Ari’s paw.
But it’s not all love all the time when it comes to almonds and the black cat. Ari’s obsession with almonds may be better described as a love-hate relationship.
Goodbye my lover, goodbye my friend. —Ari to her almonds. / Instagram: Ari_the_Panther
“She likes to drop them in her water dish as a way of murdering them,” Liz noted, claiming that doing so means that they’re then “dead to her.”
It’s difficult for Liz to quantify exactly how much (almond) joy she feels being around her wild black cat, but it’s a lot.
“She makes every day better and funnier and more full of love, and I really can’t imagine my life without her,” Liz said. “I knew I always wanted a cat, but she is much more than I ever could have imagined.”
