“Gigi, her sibling and her mom were found living on someone’s property,” explains Tanika. “Mama cat was deemed feral and the family was worried about their grandchildren being scratched, and so she was trapped and euthanized.

“The couple then tried to trap both kittens. Gigi was the only one found while, unfortunately, her sibling disappeared. My husband Mike and I had just started fostering with Furry Friends and little Gigi was our second foster kitty. She was, understandably, very scared and confused, and we knew instinctively that what she needed was a kitty friend to help teach her how to trust people and how to be a cat.

“And so, we fostered Harley, a 7-month-old kitten who had just finished weaning a litter of her own. To our relief and delight, she instantly took to Gigi. Although Harley was adopted several months later, Gigi had already emerged from her protective shell, and not only was she interacting happily with our other cats, she was revealing her sweet and silly side.

“When the time came to talk about her adoption, I instantly felt in my stomach that we couldn’t let her go. She was now an integral part of our family. And so, after a mere six months of fostering, we had our first ‘foster fail.’”

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Furry Friends Fur-Ever Stories are compiled and written by Nomi Berger who is the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles. She is a volunteer writer for Furry Friends in Vancouver, WA and also volunteers her writing skills to animal rescue groups in Canada and the USA.