MAY 4, 2019

Bella, The Black Panther

I got Bella when she was just a few months old and skinny and ugly as a rat (you can see pics below) . Everyone asked me, including my vet, why did I not pick a prettier cat. The answer is very simple, you just don't pick the cat, the cat picks you 😉. And btw, I am a firm believer in #adoptdontshop. Every animal needs a home🏡.

But going back to my Bella, named as an opposition to her skinny rat condition 🤣and after the main character in Twilight (yes, make fun, but it was trending 9 years ago).

She (not it) is the most loving cat an owner can possibly ask for and very different from a behavior pov from other cats (previously, I had another one who lived 16 blessed years in our home). Bella is super active, even sterilized at 1 year. At almost 9 years, 2h per day she's still running around the house, jumping on furniture up and down, playing very nicely with whatever she finds. Quite independent if I'm busy but still showing off (by calling me to join and see her😜).

No matter where I am in the house, she's with me. Sticking like glue. Her favorite pastime is to just sit on me/close to me/making contact and purring.

As you can see from the pics, I'm not trimming her claws, they're for her safety when she's on top of furniture for example. She never ruins anything in the house just clawing on a carpet destined for her.

Her favorite toys are the plastic plugs from plastic bottles, Q-tips and paper balls😅. I've bought her during the years tons of cat toys, nothing was better then the 3 mentioned above.

While very active and playful, she's super curios and eats anything she finds, especially on the floors: from carpet lint, hair, plastic of any kind, plants.. It can be a pain from this pov. I joke that my house is baby proofed now for Bella as you cannot find anything hanging around that a child could put in his mouth. We had some exciting experiences over the years while eating mistletoe 😱 but it turned out to be ok (I know a great vet).

People tend to think cats are very selfish animals that show affection only when they want to. Well, with Bella, I totally disagree. She is super loving and affectionate, every day, 7 days a week. When I'm hurting (for ex, I had a knee surgery) she sits very close to the hurting part and purrs. For months she stood daily next to the hurting knee purring, like she knew that part of my body was hurting.

And, other fact, contrary to popular beliefs, she replies to vocal commands, when I call her, she comes to me 😜.

All in all, black cats are awesome and super loving and Bella is a real life example ❤️.