Welcome to Wednesday Cats of Catster! Each week, we share a story from one of our cat-loving Catsters. This week is about Isabel and her sassy rescue, Milly.
Hello, Catsters! My name is Isabel Ludick and I am the Marketing Director here at Catster. You can also meet me from the Catster YouTube channel. I am a certified cat lover and am excited to share my experience as a lifelong cat owner with all of you.
I have loved cats since I can remember. My family has always had cats, dogs, rabbits, and fish, and even though I love all animals, cats have always been my favorite animal and pet. When I was young and adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I often said, “A cat, of course!”
Now, allow me to introduce my sassy rescue cat, Milly.
Milly is my beautiful, six-year-old white/tabby cat. He is a domestic shorthair and his cuteness is unmatched. Let me tell you the story of how we met and instantly became best friends.
The year is 2018. I studied Psychology and English at North West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa.1 Even though I always had cats growing up, I never had a cat of my own. As a student, living on my own for the first time, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to rescue a cat.
I asked my boyfriend (now fiance), “Can we go to the shelter this weekend to play with the cats and maybe we can bring one home?“He, never having a cat (or pets) growing up, said, “Sure, why not!” Such a keeper. We planned our shelter visit and we were both so excited! A few days before we were to go, a friend of hers called her and said she had rescued a litter of kittens that were born behind the bar where she worked. Called the bar Die Mystic Boer (the mystic farmer) and it happens to be my favorite bar in town!
The friend said she had found good homes for most of the kittens, but she had one left, and no one seemed interested in her because she wasn’t as nice as the other kittens. What are the chances? The same week I decided I wanted a cat, a friend called us and said she had one. It’s fate. I had to go see this little unwanted kitten that was born behind my favorite bar.
We went to her house that day and went into her closet to find the smallest kitten with the filthiest little mouth hiding between her shoes in the closet. My heart immediately melted and I fell to my knees. He was very scared and a little wild so I knew I had to take my time. Fortunately, since I’m familiar with cats, I know how to introduce myself. It took almost an hour until he finally sniffed my hand. Since then we both knew that we would be best friends forever.
I got up, we drove to the nearest pet store and bought a cat carrier, soft blanket, food and water bowl, litterbox, and cat litter. We went back to the friend’s house, gently picked him up, and put him in the carrier. He’s the one I’m going home with.
I don’t understand why no one likes him, he’s the cutest, dirtiest street cat I’ve ever seen. I named her Milly. I took him to the vet that morning for a general checkup and to get him vaccinated. The vet said she was about 4 weeks old and very malnourished. He probably only had bar scraps to eat for his first few weeks of life. We’re not sure if Milly was probably the runt of the litter and didn’t get any milk. The vet gave me everything I needed to nurse him back to health and that’s exactly what I did.
Fast forward to now, six years later, he is the happiest, healthiest, happiest little cat in Cape Town and I love him more than life itself. All the people who reject him will eat their hearts out because look at him! She is so beautiful that I cry (and sometimes). just kidding I cried several times during our journey together at the thought of not seeing each other. Where would he be now if I hadn’t found him? I don’t even want to know.
The important thing is that we found each other.
I truly believe that fate brought us together and it brings me so much joy to share our story with my fellow Catsters! We have many more stories to share, of our journey getting to know each other in Potchefstroom, moving back home to Johannesburg after I graduated, meeting all our other cats, becoming cat moms (by accident), moving cross country in Cape Town on a plane, living on a golf course, becoming a YouTube star and much more.
Stay tuned!
