Bella Fetches An Adopter, Pom Pom Grooms Her Way Home

Some readers will remember Pom Pom and Bella from our stories Bella’s Surgeries: A Journal of Reconstruction and Healing, Sweet Sisters Saved From the Streets, and Pom Pom and Bella Keep Busy While They Await Their Forever Home.

Their backstory, in short, is this:

Bella and Pom Pom were saved from life on the streets and blossomed into sweet, happy house cats.

The young sisters were rescued last January from a harsh existence on the streets of Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, NY. They were picked up as part of a TNR program, and that is where their lives changed drastically for the better. Little Bella had sustained some sort of injury which caused considerable disfigurement to her face, and those who picked her up could not just turn her back out to the street. The girls were taken into foster care, spayed, tested and found to be in good health, and Bella had several surgeries to fix her face. While Bella’s face remains disfigured she is otherwise normal and healthy and she has a winning personality.

Rescuer and foster Mom Bekah Wilcox tried for months to help the girls find their forever home, with the stipulation that the bonded sisters needed to remain together. Despite the kitties’ obvious charm, Bekah’s expert networking skills, appearances at adoption events, and having their own Facebook page, Pom Pom and Bella, and a few cute videos, the two cats remained with Bekah Wilcox.

Yesterday there was a big announcement about the girls. Guess who adopted them?

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The following is a guest post, by Bekah Wilcox

Bella

Bella’s efforts to get adopted spanned many months and were carefully planned out. Phase 1 began with a study of her foster family’s resident cats. Noting the extra attention Beej and Momo received for their fetching skills, Bella stepped it up a notch with her passion and dedication to the game. But while the other cats would fetch a variety of toys, Bella decided having a specific fetch toy would give her an extra edge. In a home with 8 cats and hundreds of toys, Bella and the Pink Flamingo became inseparable.

With the first phase of her plan complete, Bella still needed to convince one of the 3 humans in her foster family to adopt her. Having carefully observed them during Phase 1, she targeted the weakest link – Renee – by attaching herself to her target’s hip and showering her with affection. She thought this would be enough but with six resident cats in the home already it became increasingly clear there needed to be a Phase 3.

Having observed her target’s appreciation for science and logic she decided the ultimate way to Renee’s heart was through her brain. She stepped up her game by retiring the dumb look cats are trained to give when you tell them to do (or, more often, not to do) something and instead began demonstrating her solid grasp of human language – first by hiding under the bed when the words “adoption event” were uttered and eventually by responding to requests such as “find your pink flamingo so we can play fetch” and “you forgot to cover your poop!” The deal was sealed, Bella was adopted.

Pom Pom

As Bella’s masterplan played itself out in such intricate detail it was obvious she hadn’t considered her sister’s fate (she’s known for being selfish like that). With this “every cat for themselves” mentality, Pom Pom identified her only opportunity to get adopted. She would have to cling to one of the human’s other cats, developing a bond so intense they would have to adopt her! Initially this plan backfired and none of the cats wanted anything to do with Pom Pom. As her desperation increased so did the resident cats’ contempt for her constant need for approval. But eventually she wore one down and Momo discovered Pom Pom could be an outlet for her OCD compulsion to groom. As this mutually beneficial relationship developed, an underlying friendship, if not a love affair, blossomed. With approval from her guardian Bekah, Momo decided enough was enough and gave Pom Pom the security of a forever home.

Momo grooms Pom Pom: Momo relieves her OCD tenancies on Pom Pom who just wants everyone to like her!

Welcome home, girls.

Reprinted with permission, from Bekah Wilcox’s note of the same title.

Karen Harrison Binette

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