In November of 2017, my world was turned upside down. My sweet 6-month-old kitty, Gibson, was missing. My boyfriend and I spent hours every single day searching for our precious missing baby. I cried myself to sleep night after night, wondering where my girl was and why she hadn’t come back to me.

In January of 2018, Gibson was still missing. My boyfriend got this idea of going to HSHV “just to look.” I was working until approximately 3 p.m. that day and had received a text from my boyfriend to meet him at HSHV. I told myself the whole way there that I did not want another cat, for no animal could compare to the one we had been living without. When I arrived, I found my boyfriend in one of the kitten rooms with the skinniest, saddest looking kitten I had ever seen! Her belly was shaved from her spay along with the back of her neck due to some type of injury she had sustained before she was brought to HSHV. Despite her appearance, she was happy as can be. She was rubbing her head on my boyfriend’s hands for pets and scratches while she purred sooo loud. How could we walk away without this sweet little baby we were already attached to?

We went ahead with the adoption, in hopes it would help bring our Gibson home. While we were waiting to do paperwork and pay her adoption fee we discussed names. We had both decided to call her Kai. At the time, we didn’t know the name the shelter had given her. While we were sitting down and discussing the care she needed, the gentleman helping us said “So you guys are adopting Kairi today!” We looked at each other in disbelief. I knew in that moment that Kairi was meant for us and we were meant to be her parents.

Fast forward two weeks, we received a phone call in regards to Gibson. She had been FOUND! I went to pick her up without even thinking about acclimating these two girls to each other in their homes. 3 days in separate rooms, on the 4th day we let Gibson out to explore the space Kairi had been playing in the last few days. These two girls were absolutely inseparable from the beginning. Just like it was meant to be.

I want to thank HSHV not only for their loving support in trying to help locate Gibson, but also in their support of us finding another baby to share our love with. We could not imagine our lives without our little Tortie Kai ❤️