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The heart shaped sign on Atlas and Nova’s cage at Wayside Waifs in Kansas City, MO says: “We love each other very much.”
The brother and sister kittens are very closely bonded, with vision-impaired Atlas relying on his sis Nova, so the shelter says they must be adopted together.
The 3 month old siblings have been at the shelter for two months. When staffers tried to separate them it became clear that Atlas felt agitated and lost without his sister, so they were reunited and he regained his confidence and composure.
“They’re very popular with the staff and volunteers,” Bonnie Stillman, Wayside Waif’s feline care manager, told Channel 41 KSHB News. “Of course we’ve very protective of them.”
Atlas is at least partially blind and he relies on his sister.
“Animals are amazing in that they seem to handle physical issues much better than humans would,” Stillman said.
“If Nova walked away, Atlas would become agitated. Sometimes when we see kittens like that, we figure that they’re missing their sibling or one of them.”
“He just does better with a pal and what better pal can you have but a sibling?”
“I think it makes him more confident,” said Stillman. “They like to be held together so I think it’s just kind of a buddy system.”
The pair were featured in the segment below, and also appeared in the studio for another piece.
Wayside Waifs will keep animals together if it becomes apparent they share a close bond like Atlas and Nova do.
Watch the KSHB feature on the kittens:
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I would LOVE to have ATLAS & NOVA with a couple more older kitties, if they all got along together. I’m waiting for my house to be rebuilt in MICHIGAN before that opportunity becomes more of a possibility. I lost my 4 cats to a house fire last June. I am still mending my heart for them daily.