Karkat and the others have split up to try to cover more ground, free more people, and at first the Alternian is disappointed that his route took him to the caged animals before he could find anybody actually worth saving – that is, until he notices there's a tiger in there.

Karkat isn't always great at telling humans apart from one another (it's the lack of horns, mostly, and how often they vary what they wear), never mind Earth animals – but there's only one tiger here, and he's fairly sure, from the way people always react to Nessa when she's tigered up, that you don't usually find them just roaming around California.

He growls a little at the dog who whines at his ankle when he steps up to the cage, but after that his tone is softer: "Wildcat?"