Rover the cat was adopted by Angelina Kayyalaynen after she saw a picture of him on the West Columbia Gorge Humane Society‘s adoption site and immediately fell in love.
According to PetsRadar she named him Rover after the iconic Land Rover Range Rover because she planned on taking Rover with her on her outdoor adventures.
And this she did, hiking with him in national parks across the USA.
During this time she discovered that Rover tolerated the protective clothes she put him in (to make sure he stayed safe from the elements) extremely well.
Soon she realized she had a model on her hands.
Raising awareness
From the start, Kayyalaynen has been using Rovers popularity to try encourage people to adopt black cats.
Along with superstitions that black at bring bad luck depending on one’s culture, there is also a myth that black cats don’t photograph as well as other cats.
People nowadays want to be able to take pictures of their cats so that they can post them on social media and the belief that it is harder to capture black cats on camera deters people from adopting them.
This is a myth that Rover proves completely wrong.
All it takes is a little practice to take some really good pictures of black cats, and no more than it would take to learn how to photograph any other color cat.
The making of a ‘meow-del’
Once Kayyalaynen saw how comfortable Rover was wearing clothes, she started making outfits for him to show off in.
Kayyalaynen often gave Rover treats as he posed for the camera to keep him happy, and one day sitting on the other side of the room he walked over to Kayyalaynen wearing one of her creations strutting like a runway model.
Thus Rover the catwalk King was born.
Kayyalaynen never makes Rover do anything he doesn’t want to, if he’s not feeling it, the show does not go on.
But his fans certainly appreciate it when he does.
He became so popular he even landed a feature of Vogue in Taiwan in 2020.
Rover certainly proves that black cats can photograph beautifully.