“After we lost our cat Pearl, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for another pet,” explains Kathy. “Plus, we still had two other cats, Tiny and Bean, and Lucy, my daughter’s cat, since my daughter had moved back home.

“But when she showed me the Furry Friends website, I became interested in meeting one of the kittens who was actually Lily’s sister. When we arrived at Furry Friends, Lily and her siblings were in one room with some other cats. Lily’s sister chose to remain in her cat tree, but Lily hopped up right away on my husband’s lap and was very friendly and social. I was also interested in meeting the black cats at the shelter since our Pearl had been black. Although they were very sweet, they didn’t seem interested in us as a family.

“So, we came back to Lily and we all agreed that she was the one for us. We adopted her and took her to her new home. Originally, her name was Liza Mewnellie, but we wanted to change it. And since I’m a gardener and my favorite flower is a Lily, we decided on Lily – along with such nicknames as Lily Bell, Lily Loo and Lilster.

“Although Lily wanted to be friends with the other cats right away, they were apprehensive at first in varying degrees. Lucy, my daughter’s cat, was never into other cats, but Lily was so friendly and patient that Lucy began to tolerate her. Eventually, they began playing together on occasion. Tiny, our oldest cat, is easygoing and not only accepted her presence pretty quickly but sometimes plays with her as well. Bean, who had been closest to Pearl, was the last to accept Lily, although they too play on occasion now.

“Because Lily loves playing with toys and string, I set up a ping-pong ball on a string, tied it to a banister, and she LOVES it. She also loves chasing after toys and carrying stuffed animals around. She even tries picking up stuffed animals bigger than she is – especially a 20-inch squishmallow! So we often wake up to various stuffed animals dragged around and left in different places.

“Lily also likes climbing and being up high. Since her favorite place to sleep is high up on a bookshelf, we put a bed there for her. Her other favorite spot to sleep is on or with me when I’m lounging and watching TV or taking a nap. Now that all of the cats get along relatively well, Bean sits at the top of my chair, Tiny sits on the ottoman where I rest my feet, and Lily lies on my belly. All in all, she’s a very good cat and we love her a lot. She fits right in with our family and we’re very glad that we adopted her.

“Thank you, Furry Friends!”

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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.