Cat love in short form: miniature, reader-submitted cat stories of no more than 100 words.
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Package Deal
I intended on adopting just one kitten that day. I was guilted into two. Dexter and Gracie are a bonded pair, they said, and I wavered. Two peas in a pod, I was told as they slid me the second adoption form. Two tiny, emerald-eyed tabbies, they went home with me curled up together in the same small carrier. They were inseparable to the point that they used the litter box in tandem. They still act like those same kittens sometimes, but that was more than 11 years ago. I’ve never regretted taking the package deal. —Lauren Brinjac
A Perfect Match
Cora was nearly going to be done away with. You know what I mean. Shelter pets who aren’t adopted in time are… “done away with,” which means something too unpleasant for a family publication. But I saw this cute calico kitten. She was too scrawny. No one else wanted her because she was a little off. I am a little off, too. It was a match made in the stars. She kinda walks funny, but I do, too. We make little steps of progress together. —Claire M. Binkley
Mail Surprise
I am a mail carrier. One afternoon, I was called to Rt 45. The carrier told me that he kept hearing a noise under his truck. After a 50-mile trek, while at a stop light, he clearly heard a kitten cry. I crawled under the truck, and sitting on the gas tank was a tiny, dirty kitten. I decided to act quickly. I grabbed her, with much hissing and spitting, but no biting! I took her home for rehab and to find her a home. A year later, Poppy is thriving in her home…my home! —Kim Garner-Grubb
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First Vet Visit
Our cat was a stray when we took him in. We thought he was a girl, so I named him Miss Sylvester. He had been neutered, and my boyfriend and I, being new cat owners, asumed he was a girl. He had worms, so I made an appointment, and we carried him to the vet. When the veterinarian came back in the exam waiting room, he said, “I have a surprise for y’all.” We both excitedly asked, “what?” He said, “Y’all’s Miss Sylvester is a Mister!” —Sheila Roberson
The Culprit
They were hanging out of the open drawer and scattered all over the floor, again. Toys for our cats we rotated out as “new” toys. Sighing, I reminded our two young children to close the drawer!!! Until one evening I was reading a book to our kids and our intelligent, beautiful black Siberian cat Liam casually strolled over to the side table. He hooked a well-practiced claw into the top edge of the drawer, pulled it open, then helped himself, pawing through the toys and tossing several until he chose the one he wanted. Liam didn’t close the drawer.—Amy Hoppe
Comfort Cat
Otto always slept by my feet—until he didn’t. One evening, surprisingly, he nestled in beside my pillow, his soft tabby fur and gentle purrs soothing me through the night. He slept like this for many months, then returned to the foot of the bed. I didn’t understand his behaviour until much later. While recalling how my father and grandparents all died within a single year, I suddenly realized: that was when Otto began sleeping near me! I hadn’t understood during that stressful time, but Otto was comforting me through my grief. He literally held me close so I could heal. —Paige Wallace
This article originally appeared in the award-winning Modern Cat magazine. Subscribe today!