A little love story

 This little love story is not about a couple of star-crossed lovers in fair Fermoy. Instead, this tiny tale involves two adorable kittens Jax and Billie Jean, whose accidental meeting in our feline foster home almost made me question my skepticism about fate and destiny and all that.

Billie Jean came to us with her two sisters Serena and Simona (yes, it was Wimbledon time at the time;)

Jax arrived on his ownsome. He was a little bit special - the cornea of his right eye had been damaged, so he had very little sight left in it. But he was a real champ on every level - he's one of those cats with whom you'll never have a dull moment, he's always up for having all kinds of fun, and to top it all off - he's also one of the best goalies around:) And he's also one of the cuddliest fellas I've met!

And they were all joined by Barry, who happened to be found straying on his own around the same time. And so this fun-loving fivesome became a rather cute little family:

They all got along like a house on fire, but there was something really special about Jax and Billie's relationship. It's always heartwarming when foster kittens form strong bonds, especially if they're not littermates, and these two hooked up pretty much instantly. You'd always see them together: playing, sleeping, grooming each other, chilling out. Out of the three sisters, Billie Jean was the 'shy' one, so it's possible that her interactions with Jax also helped to bring her out of her shell. Because Jax was a true Jack the Lad - to call him simply confident would be a crime. So, in a way Jax was Billie's social crutch. And in return, when Jax had a rather bad case of the flu and he had to be taken to the vet for injections over three days, Billie just seemed to be always there for him, always the first to welcome him back from the vet, always ready to cheer him up.

I don't know if that's love, but it most certainly looks like affection, or close attachment. Cats really do seem to form friendships. Just like us. We've all experienced it - sometimes things just click with someone. And then we just want to spend as much time as possible with them. We want to be with them when we're happy and when we're down in the dumps. This, it seems, is what happened between Jax and Billie.

And from what I have observed, cats seem to be attuned to each other's emotions or health issues. Our first cat Vader is not a feline's feline in general, but every time our second cat Charlie is ill, Vader always stays close to him, refrains from spending too much time outside, and either sleeps in his vicinity or allows Charlie to sleep cuddled into him, which is by no means Vader's favourite thing in the world. Again, this behaviour bears great resemblance to what we humans call love. I'm sure cats have a scent for it:)

 J&B sharing a tender moment on the window sill 

Cute or what?

So, all things considered, I decided to advertise them together, as an item. In the hope that they would carry this deep bond and close friendship into the future together. After some time, luckily we were able to find a wonderful family who had fallen in love with Billie (they had also been advertised separately), but very quickly agreed to adopt them both. Because Billie had fallen in love with Jax, so to speak.

Seeing those two lovebirds leave us together was one of the happiest days in my fostering experience. Because this kind of bonding doesn't happen too often, for felines or humans. And when it perseveres, it seems to make the world a little better.

Shortly after they had left, their adopters sent us a video of J&B having some forever fun on their very own pool table!!! A cat heaven or what?! But they also sent us a picture of J&B sleeping together in their forever home, curled up together in classic yin-yang style - it still melts my heart every time I happen to see it.

Speaking of pics, I think this is one of my favourites, there's something very 'somewhere only we know' about it. It's taken when all the other kittens had already left for their forever homes and Jax and Billie's future was still uncertain. Of course, it could well be that this time spent on their own only helped to make their bond even stronger.