Written by Kate Biernacki
Professional photography by @Strike a Pose Photo / Video
I’ve known Lynette Nicholson of Nicholson Kitty Rescue for a few years. The two of us had met up on many occasions at a mutual friend’s house, putting donations in boxes for the charity. On this particular day, Lynette came in carrying a blue carrier. The story was that the two kittens, who were no more than three weeks old at the time and part of an original litter of three, had been placed with a foster but were failing to pick up weight, so she’d gone to collect them. The largest of the three kittens hadn’t made it, and the surviving two, a boy and a girl, weren’t in a good way. The girl was vomiting, and they both had diarrhoea and weren’t eating. Lynette let us help her to feed and clean them.
I had an instant connection with the little boy but pushed my feelings aside. We already had four cats and really weren’t looking to adopt any more, but I found myself messaging Lynette every couple of days to see how the kittens were doing. Eventually, she had them both healthy and eating.
I don’t recall how it happened, but I do know that logic and sense took a back seat. I went to visit Lynette to drop off a few things and decided to test myself. Perhaps I’d imagined the bond. After all, they were so vulnerable and sickly. But when Lynette let me sit and play with them, I knew my bond with the boy was real. I asked my hubby what he thought. He said he was open to adopting and said I should.
I brought my daughters to meet the little boy and they took to the kittens immediately. On the way home, I told them we were taking the boy. They were horrified at the thought of splitting them and begged me to take both. Wasn’t I already pushing it, I thought? We would have six cats and two dogs. But the more we went to visit, the more I agreed with my daughters – we just couldn’t separate this bonded pair of siblings. The kids named the little boy Sanji, based on a character in the Anime series One Piece. The girl’s name is Annabelle, after the doll from the movie of the same name – but we call her Belle.
The kittens were still quite underweight and couldn’t leave Lynette straight away. Since they’d had a rough start, they needed time. When they were just under a kilo, Lynette said they could come home with us. All they’d known during their time with Lynette was a room, so when we brought them home, they lived in my daughter’s room. She became their mother and looked after their every need. She bonded with the little girl. The kittens grew stronger and were very active, and my daughter had to sleep with them jumping on her head and attacking her toes.
After a few months, we decided they were big enough to be introduced to the other animals. We left the bedroom door wide open, but the kittens didn’t leave the room for a few weeks. We let them slowly come out when they were ready. If they were ever unsure, they ran back to my daughter’s room. Introducing them to the outdoors was slow going, but because we did it at their pace, the other animals had plenty of time to adjust.
Today the pair is eleven months old. They still hang out together 80% of the time. Sanji is slim, with a Siamese sort of face and green eyes. Belle has more of a rounded face and is chunky, with the most gorgeous yellow eyes. They’re very mischievous and are always getting themselves into trouble. They’re notoriously clumsy. Sanji has knocked over more crockery than anyone else in the family. Belle recently put her entire back leg in my coffee and shook coffee everywhere (luckily, it was only lukewarm). The number of times they walk on the countertops and misplace a foot, unceremoniously falling to the floor, are too many to count.
We call them our anti-depressants. You cannot be sad around them. They’re completely goofy and loving, and they’ve completed our family!
