Yesterday (February 15, 2026) was the one-year anniversary of Eleanor joining the family! She has come such a long way from the scared little kitty she was upon arrival, and I am so proud of her bravery and resilience. It’s incredible how she’s been able to learn to trust humans again after all she’s been through. She was born in a hoarder home, escaped and gave birth to two kittens, and was rescued along with her kittens by my local vet all by the age of 1.5 years old, where they called her Mama Cat. (I still call her that on occasion as one of my many terms of endearment for her, and her aunt Julie was the first to call her Miss Eleanor, which stuck.)
Obviously she’d been through a lot when she came to live with me (and her kittens also found a home as a bonded pair). Over the past year Eleanor went from refusing to emerge from beneath her “turtle bed” (pictured) to snuggling next to me while I’m reading and running to be pet every time we sit down to eat dinner. Ellie is such a delightful, inquisitive, and peculiar little companion. She likes to sunbathe, to bat around toys with jingle bells, to have her butt scratched, and to chew on my yarn while I’m attempting to crochet. She’s also incredibly faithful–I don’t remember the last time I took a shower without being supervised by my very own “lifeguard kitty” or used the bathroom unobserved. I love seeing her enjoy life’s simple pleasures, whether it’s a patch of sunlight or making biscuits on a fuzzy blanket.
I’m absolutely smitten and am beyond grateful to have her as a friend. She and Persephone have learned to coexist and virtually never do more than hiss at each other. It’s been an honor to see Eleanor grow comfortable in her new home as she internalizes that she’s safe and learns to be a house kitty. Adopting this magnificent little creature has been the best time of my life and I love her from the tips of her ears to her little white socks.