Murrieta Cat Places 2nd In Quarter-Finals For 'America's Favorite Pet'

MURRIETA, CA — A Murrieta cat has finished 2nd in the quarter-finals of a national contest this week, owner Robyn Hargrove says of her orange feline, Butters. The flame point Siamese cat was up for Modern Cat Magazine's 2026 America's Favorite Pet falling short of the mark but not in our hearts.

A total of 47,000 cats entered the contest for Colossal Paws Charity, organized by Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy.

"I was grateful butters made the 1% and stayed in the contest as long as he did! But Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy will never know how hard I really truly worked."

Hargrove is a retired Stater Brothers employee, and used her social media prowess to get her kitty the most likes possible.

"I worked my butt off literally worked my butt off publicity wise, getting them in the newspaper taking the perfect pictures, checking the status of the contest everything 15 minutes from the day it started January 5 till it ended last night," she tells us.

Butters was in first place for much of the last week, but as the clock wound down, it was neck and neck until the end.

"It ended in a nitty-gritty knockdown dollar fight at about 6:59 Butters was in first place the whole time but second place cat must’ve put in $500 at the last minute," she told us. "It's unfortunate

As disappointed as we were for Butters to not make it to the next round, we're pretty sure he remains Murrieta's favorite cat.

"I’m very excited to learn learned so much in to meet so many kind people along the way," she told us. "Literally people off the street voted for him, my friends, my family and it was very exciting."

Though she's sad he's not going to the semifinals, she told us the cost of another victory for Butters would have been prohibitive. Of the contest, she told us: "I have nothing negative to say about America’s favorite pet. They ran a competition. I followed the rules and it was exciting. Exhausting, but exciting."

Now that the voting is done, it's time for Butters to get a solid cat nap.

"I love my cat," Hargrove said. "He’s the most amazing beautiful flame point Siamese and he is just heaven-sent."