Instagram's Teeny Dina Is As Sassy As She Is Stunning
Teeny Dina has the kind of presence that makes a cat Instagram stop the scroll. With her striking Russian Blue looks, tiny frame, and a long list of nicknames, she has turned everyday pet moments into a full-on personality showcase. From the way she came into their lives to the way she keeps them laughing now, this little cat has plenty going on.
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And once you see how much attitude fits into such a small package, it is hard not to want the full Dina story.
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Why Teeny?
Dina's human companion dads told us why her Instagram handle is "Teeny" Dina:
"She's called Teeny Dina on her social media pages because she's pretty small compared to most cats (she's only 6.3 lb, which is common for fully grown Russian Blue females, but most people are surprised at how small she is when they meet her!)" - Dr. John Gottman, renowned marriage researcher.
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The 4.5-year-old cat is a stunning Russian Blue.
We asked her humans how they came to be a family.
Nate explained:
"We'd always found Russian Blues to be a beautiful, playful, and friendly breed and were hoping to find one in a rescue or local shelter, but hadn't had any luck finding one in the year or so after our previous cat passed away."
When you love a breed, your heart is set!
When their hopes of finding a rescue in need were coming up short, the tides turned:
"We reached out to a local family that shows Russian Blues at cat shows and asked if we might be able to adopt one when one of their cats retired from being a show cat. They invited us over to meet her, and we spent an afternoon playing with Dina and immediately fell in love with her."
The dynamic dads were filled with hope as they interacted with Dina:
"She was a loving pet and companion to them, and we knew how big of a decision it would be for them to let her live the rest of her life with us, but we were hopeful they'd agree."
Alas, it was totally meant to be.
Dina chose her family:
"Dina marked us with headbutts and snuggles the day we met, and fortunately, her previous guardians agreed that we'd be her perfect furrever retirement home. They said that they could tell immediately that she 'picked' us when we arrived that day and that she'd never been that way with others before. About a year later, Dina was ready to retire from the show world and live the rest of her life as a pampered queen in our house!"
Living the good life in Seattle!
These days, retirement is looking fabulous for Dina. She is spoiled properly, like every cat deserves. Dad 1 told us:
"Dina has a favorite catnip toy that looks like a little carrot, and she'll drag it around the house day and night, often while meowing to let us know what she's found. It's gotten so dirty and gross that we've had to secretly replace it with identical new ones a few times, and she doesn't seem to notice!"
She is extraordinarily loving and playful.
Nate added:
"She is also a HUGE fan of the laser pointer and will run up and down our hallway as long as someone is willing to give her a good playtime with it. Our downstairs neighbor assumed we had a big dog with how loud her running is!"
Photo: Sunny Martini
"She's got a handful of quirks that we think are pretty funny and cute!"
Dina's dads adore and delight in all her purrsonality quirks, and we love hearing about the funny ones.
"First of all, she's very concerned about our Roomba and will watch it from a safe distance any and every time it comes out to clean (we've posted a couple of recent photos of her freaking out when it 'wakes up' lol)."
I don't blame her; Roombas are totally suspicious.
He added:
"She's also VERY suspicious of our printer, and any time it makes any noise, she'll run to it, swat it, stick her paws in the paper slots, and climb around the top of it trying to figure out what it is up to."
It's up to no good. They're lucky she is looking out for them by investigating.
But wait, there's more, and it just gets better!
"She's also quite clumsy at times and has a bad habit of jumping up onto a counter and pulling everything off of it with her when she falls back."
Dina is also a teeny bit picky...
"Perhaps the most surprising fact about Dina is that she HATES wet food and only wants kibble. She will only eat one specific type of freeze-dried chicken for her occasional treats (she calls them chimkens on her posts)."
She knows what's good for her, even if she's mildly judgmental about humans eating truffles in bed.
"She's also a very vocal and conversational cat..."
Dina has a lot to say every day:
"The first 5-10 minutes of each morning is spent listening to her tell us all about her night and what she has planned for the day!"
Dina's retirement sounds like a LOT of fun.
"When she's EXTRA bored, she'll chase her tail in super-fast circles, sometimes knocking over anything in her path!"
On top of being just pawsitively gorgeous, Dina is using her Instagram fame to do some good in the world.
"Her posts and captions are usually pretty lighthearted and from her 1st purrson perspective as a cat, but we also like to tell stories and share information that we think is important, too.
We're big fans of the Paw Project and try to help educate people about the dangers and damage of cat declawing. We've shared fundraisers with her friends and followers to support animal rescue organizations in Australia after the recent wildfires, and because she has two loving dads, she's become our favorite furry LGBTQIA+ advocate, too!
We know that she has a lot of friends and followers from all walks of life, all political and social persuasions, and with an infinite number of individual identities, and she makes sure everyone is welcome in her world free of judgment and prejudice!"
Her dads are super dedicated:
"We're so fortunate to get to share our lives with Dina because she's a very special, loving, and beautiful cat. Pedigree Russian Blues are super rare, yet somehow the common misconception is that any and all grey cats are Russian Blues (they might not be a Russian Blue, but they're almost certainly still a beautiful and loving kitty!).
We've tried to learn a lot about the breed since she came to live with us, and we try to help people learn more about her and honor her breed's unique history in a way that never detracts from the importance of advocating for pet adoption and that all pets are amazing and worthy of love, companionship, and a comfortable life, pedigree or otherwise."
"We like to show people that a pet's love transcends human social constructs and that animals don't lose sleep over most of the silly things that humans do."
"Dina simply loves a warm lap, chin scratchies, and any new friend that will take time to play with her toys, no matter who you are! In an age of the internet where things seem negative a lot of the time, we love that she can spread happiness and smiles to the people that follow her."
And the smiles are abundant.
Dina's posts are spunky and playful, thoughtful and sincere, and they totally send a positive and genuine energy into the internet's cat space.
Also, Dina may be a pampered princess, but that also doesn't stop her from rocking out to metal.
"One of her dads (Dad 1) has introduced her to a lot of metal and noise bands that he loves, and she's started following them on social media to show her support, too! She loves listening to bands like Cave In, KEN Mode, Heavy Heavy Low Low, Russian Circles, and Snapcase when he plays their records. Most people don't expect a cat to enjoy loud music, but she does! We're told her previous guardian listened to a lot of heavy metal music, too!"
What more can we say? Dina is an awesome cat.
You can also connect with her on her professional website. Don't forget to share our feature article on this beautiful cat with all your cat-loving friends and family!
Wait till you see how a stray cat picked a wheelchair user, then jumped into her lap.
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