Pearl, a silky soft 3-year-old whippet mix, used to live outside as an abandoned stray. Now her home is a 4-by-9-foot kennel at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. And you thought your studio was small.

The kittens at the Animal Welfare League of Arlington live differently than the adult cats. Adult cats—including Sheba, the even-temptered black 10-year-old and Bennett, the 11-year-old orange tabby—have a divided, single-level home they can crawl through. But the kittens get the most affordable  condo in Shirlington.