MoMo, the King of Black Cat Magic
Trinity Larsen | April 28, 2026
MoMo reclines on a beanbag chair in the Pew Learning Center & Ellison Library at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C. on April 13, 2026. (WWC Circulation Crew/Instagram)
If you were around Warren Wilson College’s (WWC) Pew Learning Center & Ellison Library (a.k.a the library) during an academically stressful time, then you might have heard about the Cat Cabana. The Cat Cabana allowed students to take a break from work and spend time with a cat named MoMo (upon dutiful autographing of the sign-up sheet, of course).
MoMo is a half-Manx, half-domestic shorthair breed. Despite only having three legs, the cute furry feline is open to cuddling and showing you some love. The campus library partnered with House of Black Cat Magic located on Haywood Rd in Asheville, NC to make this cool opportunity available.
House of Black Cat Magic advertises a “Cat Lounge” where community members are free to either walk in or make a reservation to cuddle with their kitties. They offer 12 cats at a time in their Cat Lounge and each is up for adoption. As sometimes happens at the shelter, a WWC student fell in love with Momo, and decided to adopt him. .
Bella Sosa, a sophomore and on the Mailroom Crew, will be MoMo’s new owner.
“I just went in there all the time, and I would give him his space,” Sosa said. “I would just sit in the bean bag, and he would come over and lay in my lap. It was just super nice and special to spend that time with him. I got attached, and I was like, ‘Oh, I actually really want him’.”
If you're a cat person, then you know the loving relationship that can quickly form between feline and owner. MoMo’s three legs aren’t the only thing that makes him beautifully special. Sosa shared they both have similar traits that the two immediately bonded over.
“I have a little snaggle tooth on the left side of my canine and he does too,” Sosa said. “He has very profound canines, but it's only the left one that sticks out.”
MoMo displays his snaggle tooth Pew Learning Center & Ellison Library at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, N.C. on April 16, 2026. (WWC Circulation Crew/Instagram)
Sosa didn’t grow up with pets, noting that her family’s one-time pet ownership was short-lived.
“My dad got [a cat],” Sosa said. “He was a bangle cat, but he was super hyperactive, and [our family] wasn’t prepared for that. We had him for close to a year, but we figured that he could go to a better home.”
As a child, Sosa said she had a bad experience with an unfriendly cat, causing her to distance herself from them until high school, when she was introduced to a friendly cat. Sosa said she is, obviously, now in love with cats and appreciates the library, including library manager Teresa Imfeld, for providing students an outlet to de-stress.
“Teresa told me that she's been trying to [get The Cat Cabana] for years, but COVID and the hurricane happened, and so things continued to happen to prevent her from doing a foster system through the library,” Sosa said.
The Cat Cabana was a huge success for students, as Sosa described. It not only provided a space for students to de-stress, but it gave Sosa an opportunity to fall in love with animals again.
“I think just being in touch with animals is a really special thing,” Sosa said. “I feel calmer when I'm with animals. I think if they were to continue to do this, it would be super successful and students would really enjoy it. I think bringing animals over to a college campus is great because there's a lot of animal lovers here and a lot of opportunities [for animals] to get adopted.”
As of when this interview was recorded, it was only MoMo’s second night with Sosa. Sosa mentioned that he had been less vocal but still in good spirits due to the treats she had been feeding him. Give MoMo, the friendliest furry friend around, some love if you see him around campus!
Visit the House of Black Cat Magic website for their Cat Lounge event calendar, gifts such as cat calendars and handmade candles and HBCM merchandise. You can also check out their blog to see stories of other HBCM adoption parents in Asheville.