Mirabella

When I first met my beloved kitten, my aunt and I were fostering her and her two little sisters. We had fostered kittens previously, but these three were the youngest we had ever had, only six weeks old. We didn’t know where their mother was or what happened to her, but these small little babies were terrified of everything and everyone. We had them in their own room, so they would be separate from the other cats that belonged to my aunt.

At first, because they were so small and sleeping so close together, I thought we had just one kitty, until all three looked up at me like the snakes on Medusa and hissed. I was taken aback, and gave them a few minutes to get used to my presence in their area. Then I brought out some wet kitten food for them to eat. I don’t think they had ever had anything other than milk, so my aunt and I put the kitten food on little wooden spoons and fed them from afar, due to the fact they wouldn’t let us in too close. They slowly realized it was food and began eating, feeding them was how we gained their trust, and for the first day or two they only ate if we fed them with the wooden spoons.

Once we had their trust, we needed a way to distinguish between these three almost identical black cats. We discovered that one had extra front paw toes, and another had extra toes on the front and back! The last one just had a regular amount of toes. The next part was naming them. With all the kittens we fostered I tried to make a theme out of each group of cats we fostered. For instance, we had two I named Barack and Obama, another set of five we named after sodas.

I knew these kittens were special and explained my dilemma to my boyfriend at the time. He clarified that they were three black female girls, I said yes. Then he suggested I name them after the three queen sisters of a book series we both enjoyed. It was brilliant and immediately decided, they would be named Mirabella, Arsonie, and Katarine. Arsonie was the most adventurous, with the extra front and back toes, Katarine was the sweetest, with the extra front toes, and Mirabella was the confidant and regal, with no extra toes.

Once they got big and confident enough, we allowed them to roam the house with the other cats. Our cats are quite friendly and everyone got along fantastically, especially our youngest cat Barrett, an orange tabby who was the youngest we had at about one. He loved Katarine the most and they were practically inseparable.

Now during this time in my life, I was having severe issues with my mental health. My psychiatrist was working with me to find the right medications that would help with my anxiety, depression, and PTSD. I was out of work on medical leave, and my therapist had suggested that even though I had cats living at the same house with me, none of them were really mine, and that perhaps I should look into adopting my own. Now was the perfect time.

I was starting to form a strong attachment with Mirabella, and the feelings seemed to be mutual. I decided to test out having her just sleep with me one on one in my room, without her sisters or the other cats. We brought up food, water, and a litter box, next was the Mirabella.

We brought her up and she began exploring my room, going in my closet, under my bed, playing with pencils and pens on my desk. Now, due to it being summertime, I had an air conditioner in my room. When it turned on, Mirabella jumped about two feet and went scurrying under my bed. I felt so bad for her, and tried comforting her with toys. She had a favorite purple fluffy mouse she would carry in her mouth and toss in the air. After a while she got used to the noise and came out. She ended up sleeping in between my legs all night.

Mirabella then proceeded to follow me around just about everywhere I went after that night. If I was in the bathroom, she was in the bathroom. She slept with me every night. Eventually, I got a car seat for her and we began going on car rides together, which she loved, except if we went through a drive thru. Whenever that happened she would crouch down and pretend no one could see her, even though everyone could (one of her favorite games). I was going out more because she was with me, if I woke up from a nightmare, she was there to comfort me.

I adopted Mirabella the week of my 20th birthday, her two sisters were adopted the same day by a lovely family with two little girls. Sometimes, I regret not adopting them all, but I know Mirabella is enough for me. Barrett accepted Mirabella as a replacement for Katarine and they became best friends, whenever Mirabella isn’t with me she's with him. We grow closer everyday, though it doesn’t seem possible. She is my best friend.