N.J.'s Top Pet: Meet a pot-bellied pig and an 'ugly' dog

Otto the pig, Alfie the cat, Monster the dog, and cats Blackie and Midnight are all finalists in our N.J.'s Top Pet competition Watch video

On the road to crowning New Jersey's Top Pet, we've already introduced readers to Maggie the dog, Cleopatra the rabbit and Ringo the dog.

Now here are four more finalists of the 10 New Jersey pets competing for the title.

These pets represent Somerset, Hunterdon and Monmouth counties as well as three categories in our initial reader vote -- cats, non-dog and cat pets, and small dogs.

Get acquainted with each animal in the photos above and the stories and video below before casting your vote for Top Pet next week. 

Who should the winner be? The pig? The rabbit? One of the cats, or a dog? You tell us. We still have three more pet profiles to come before the big vote. 

Otto the pig

Diane Yusko intended to adopt a foster dog when she traveled to a home in Pennsylvania after seeing a listing on Craigslist. 

But when she set her eyes on the little pig sitting there, she couldn't pass him up. 

"I said, 'Give me the damn pig,'" she recalls. "They never fed him."

The pig, who she named Otto, settled in at home in Howell and soon became a "foster failure."

"My family thought I was nuts," says Yusko, 50, a certified public accountant who before Otto had owned guinea pigs, but never a pig-pig. 

Billed as a "mini pot-bellied pig," Otto proved he wouldn't be "mini" for long as he feasted on all that Yusko gave him to eat. After he became sick from eating azaleas in the backyard, Yusko got Otto his own fenced-in area, complete with a "pig crossing" sign. There, he basks in the sun, roots in the dirt and digs for worms. He's also got his own kiddie pool and a mini ball pit where Yusko throws treats for the pig to find.

Otto the pig with his owner, Diane Yusko, at home in Howell. (Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

Another adjustment Yusko made to pig-proof her house was to install weights to keep her refrigerator and cabinets closed, since Otto, who is now 3 years old, can and will go rooting around them if she's not around. Yet Otto is not only house trained, he will also ring a bell when he has to go outside. And if the sliding door to the backyard is open a crack, he can just open it himself, with a nudge of his snout. 

Otto washes his face in a yellow bowl outside when Yusko asks him to, and he lets out little grunts when she combs his hair -- not fur (he's hypoallergenic). 

Otto will typically eat an apple and pig feed for breakfast and a bowl of veggies for dinner. He also gets a SpongeBob gummy vitamin with his food, and fish and omega 3 oils to keep his hair shiny. His personal tastes range from potatoes to beer -- he's definitely broken into the fridge before. 

Like many dogs, Otto can turn or spin on command. He also gives "kisses" and enjoys walking on Bubble Wrap. 

"He's a funny companion," Yusko says.

Cats Blackie and Midnight

Most days, Midnight and Blackie will return sometime in the afternoon to relax around the house, but as outdoor cats, their daily paths are known only to them. The 1-year-old tuxedo cats are also brothers that found their way to the Cirianni family of Whitehouse Station when Diana Cirianni spotted one of them at a garage sale. On a lark, she asked the owners if the cat was for sale. They weren't, but they were willing to part with the cat, if his brother could come along. 

Cirianni's children, Nina, 11, and Joey, 8, named the cats, who they say act more like dogs. 

Joey, whose cat allergies are mitigated by keeping the pets outside, can hoist Midnight and Blackie up at various angles for a bit of playtime and they won't scratch him or become irate. Both cats also demonstrate a fascination with water.

Diana Cirianni adopted Blackie and Midnight after seeing one of the cats at a garage sale and asking if she could bring them home to her family. (Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

"It feels like they're a part of, like, our family, 'cause the first day we got them, they, like, ran right to us," Joey says. 

They'll lounge around by the family's above-ground pool and play with the water -- even when the cover's still on. Each night without fail, they return home to the garage. They're been known to hunt mice, birds and snakes, but never harm them -- only bringing them back to the house to show the family. They've also been known to enjoy plain bagels and pizza crust. 

"They're Italian cats, I guess," Diana says. Midnight has been spotted "playing lacrosse" and soccer 

And, playing against stereotype, they can climb a tree but also get back down. 

Monster the dog

Kasia Mrozowski named her dog Monster as a tongue-in-cheek way to acknowledge the breed's reputation as being a so-called "ugly" dog.

"He's been called 'ugly' his whole life," says Mrozowski, 30, of her 9-year-old Chinese crested dog, his breed named for the shock of white hair that crests above his head. 

"I had someone ask me if he was a goat one time," she says, acknowledging that the breed is not as well known as many others. 

"I had never seen one up until I bought him," says Mrozowski, of Bridgewater, who works in healthcare development and management. To this day, she and Monster, who likes to skateboard, have never encountered another Chinese crested on their travels.

Kasia Mrozowkski with Monster, her 9-year-old Chinese crested dog. (Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

There are many extra steps to caring for a Chinese crested, she says, including keeping Monster clothed in cotton shirts and onesies for dogs (he's allergic to anything else), washing him up to three times a week and applying sunblock to guard against sunburn on his mostly hairless skin. Though he's a hypoallergenic pet, he has various food allergies, so she keeps him on a grain-free diet, feeding him rice, vegetables and fish.

"He eats better than I do," Mrozowski says. But those are all small obstacles when you consider the upsides of owning a Chinese crested, she says. 

"He's so different," says Mrozowski, who has lived in both New Jersey and Krakow, Poland. "He's funky." And he tends to do better with people than dogs -- "He thinks he's a human being," she says. 

Monster understands commands in both Polish and English, and will give his owner kisses when the promise of a banana looms nearby. 

"He's so motivated by food," she says. 

Alfie the cat

He may be a luxurious-looking purebred Persian cat, but Alfie before Happy Homes Animal Rescue in Old Bridge took him in, he was found walking the streets of Harlem, completely matted, with burn marks on his body.  

Living his post-rescue life for the last five months with Courtney and Steve DeFeo in Franklin Township, Alfie shares the home with another cat named Fitz, a 1 1/2-year-old Russian blue mix, and Cecil, an 11-year-old basset hound, as well as Chittery, an 11-year-old chinchilla. 

As the snow-white cat with the green, almond-shaped eyes walks with a regal air past the sniffing dog, it's hard to deny the fact that he rules the roost. It didn't take him long to assert his dominance, even as a newcomer. 

"He runs the house," Steve says of the doll-faced cat, estimated to be about 5 years old.

Steve and Courtney DeFeo of Franklin Township with Alfie, their Persian cat. (Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

"He's very quiet," says Courtney, who maintains Alfie's Instagram page. "He doesn't meow -- like ever. Very rarely, when he just wants his brother to play with him."  

Because Alfie sheds so much, the DeFeos, both 28 - Steve works in IT at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and Courtney works as a program specialist for a college new hire program at Optum, a health services company -- run an air purifier and frequently change the air filters in their home. They also regularly use a de-matter on Alfie's long hair.

Alfie enjoys playing with his cat toys, getting his white fluff messy when he eats his wet food, gobbling up Greenies treats, sitting by the sink -- where he'll drink the water if his owners cup it in their hands -- and exploring the basement.