Valentine’s Day is coming, and Pompous Albert does not look happy about it. Of course, Pompous Albert doesn’t look happy about anything.
The cat, which has developed a considerable following on social media, has grayish-white fur, yellow eyes ringed in black and a distinctive scowl on his face. “What started it all is just his perpetual kind of cranky-looking face,” said Sage Singleton, the daughter of Albert’s owners.
She and her father, Mike Singleton, are willing to share that cranky-looking face with anybody who has a Valentine’s message to send. In real life, Pompous Albert is the office cat at Sagebrush Fine Art & Licensing in Murray.
Pompous Albert, who’s about 14 years old, was a “rejected show cat,” Mike Singleton said, “because his head was too small. And we kind of use that as our schtick — ‘Rejected show cat, but I’ll show them.’”
The sister of one of his employees raises Selkirk Rex cats, “which is kind of a rare breed.” Albert was born looking the way he looks, and he wasn’t going to win any best-in-show prizes.
“A lady dropped him off to us. He’s been our office cat ever since,” Mike Singleton said. “He’s just fantastic.”
There are a lot of people on social media who agree. Pompous Albert has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, and more than 700,000 followers on TikTok. People who came into the office “would always look at him and say, ‘What is that?’” Mike Singelton said. “So one day somebody posted him and Reddit picked it up. And it blew up across social media.”
(Mike and Sage Singleton) This is one of the Valentine's Day cards that features Pompous Albert.
There are plenty of mean-looking cats online, but Pompous Albert’s look is … well … distinctive.
“I mean, his face kind of says it all,” Sage Singleton said. “He’s really sweet, but he definitely has a somewhat scary face.”
She and her father decided that Pompous Albert’s face could bring Valentine’s Day joy to his fans — whether “they love it or hate it.” They’re providing free online cards that feature the cat’s distinctive face with “snarky remarks for either an ex or jilted lovers, or maybe couples who are more sarcastic,” Sage Singleton said.
All you have to do is follow Pompous Albert on Instagram or TikTok and fill out a short form by Feb. 10. The cards, which can be shared online or printed out, will be sent on Feb. 14.
“His online persona has become snarky and somewhat arrogant, and so we wanted to just play off that with an anti-Valentine,” Sage Singleton said. “We feel like if he had a voice, that is how he would greet anyone on this upcoming holiday.”
It’s all in fun. “We’re not really trying to make a statement about Valentine’s Day, but the holiday’s coming up and we like to engage with our audience,” she said. “Pun intended, he is our pet project. … We play around with him, promote him. At the end of the day, we’re just trying to make people smile during some hard times.”
And Mike Singleton was quick to say that “Albert got me through this whole [COVID-19] crisis.” His employees were sent home to work remotely, and just Mike and Sage continued working in the office.
In real life, Pompous Albert is a friendly guy, albeit a bit haughty and demanding. Like a lot of other cats. One of his most popular posts is Albert looking pompous and saying, “You are breathing my air.”
“Albert is probably on my desk four hours a day, at least,” Mike Singleton said. “I have a little piece of carpet that he sits on. When he wants treats, he’ll claw me.”
“He definitely runs the show,” Sage Singleton said. “He likes to be the center of attention. … Everything you see on our social is pretty true to character for the cat.”
Albert is also tough. Last year, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.
“We decided to do the surgery, and he’s a survivor,” Mike Singleton said. “He got through and came back. All of his hair came back. So, yeah, he’s a tough cat.”
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