With just a few days before the Democratic National Convention officially kicks off, the Charlotte in 2012 Convention Host Committee released a video that will surely energize the party's base: cat ladies.

Fernando, the group's resident feline, pops up at different convention points of interest around the city, including Bank of America Stadium and Time Warner Cable Arena, to some bumping techno. It's garnered an impressive 4,550 or so views in the four days it's been on YouTube.

In a nation brutally divided between cat and dog lovers, I decided to look back at what some of our more noted presidents preferred. Most simply couldn't decide - and some went totally out of the box.

The Obamas are a dog-loving bunch. Bo is their Portuguese Water Dog.

• The Obamas and their Portuguese Water Dog, Bo.

George W. Bush owned both cats and dogs but also a Longhorn named Ofelia.

• Miss Beazley, the Bush's Scottish Terrier.

Gerald Ford owned a Golden Retriever named Liberty.

John F. Kennedy owned a canary, parakeets, ponies, dogs and a rabbit. Jackie owned a horse.

Calvin Coolidge owned a pigmy hippo, a bear, a lion, countless dogs and birds, and a bobcat.

Woodrow Wilson's sheep grazed on the White House lawn.

William Taft owned the last cow at the White House, Pauline Wayne.

Andrew Johnson fed the mice in his room.

James Buchanan owned a heard of elephants and a pair of bald eagles.

Martin Van Buren owned a pair of tigers.

John Quincy Adams and his wife, Louisa, owned an alligator and silk worms.

And George Washington owned dogs and horses.

For more, visit President Pet Museum's (no, I'm not joking) website.