Mirabel (Bella)

A little over a month ago, we adopted a wonderful little cat from Animal Haven.  You knew her as Mirabel, she is now nicknamed Bella.

Bella’s first week with us proved an adventure.  She is incredibly smart and is always up for attention.  We installed plexi-glass around the banister upstairs, with a door to the top of the stairs to keep our previous cat, Lily, from roaming into the downstairs living room without supervision.  Lily, who, incidentally looked and acted a lot like Bella, went wild in the living room, clawing good furniture, running up and down the wing chairs, sauntering across the mantel, etc.  Soon she figured out how to open the door at the top of the stairs, so we added a baby-gate, as well.  This worked for fourteen years, while we had Lily, and we thought it was going to work equally well with Bella.  Fat chance. 

One morning while Jane and I were in the downstairs sunroom, thinking that all was at peace with the world, who comes meandering in, without a care in the world, as if she owned the place?  Bella!  Brainy Bella!  Jane went upstairs to see if she secured the baby-gate.  She had.  Then she brought Bella upstairs, re-secured the gate and the door and awaited developments.  Within a minute Bella pushed the gate away from the wall (again it was tightly secured), enough to create a little opening which she then slithered through, pushed open the plexi-glass door and was down the stairs in a flash.  She is a tiny little thing, but evidently has strong paws, and a stronger will.  Already we feel like boarders in the House of Bella.  

One of the first nights here Bella had the “zoomies” — racing up and down the stairs with a toy mouse in her mouth and tearing around our upstairs sitting room and then down the stairs again — six times.  She is fast!  She still does this whenever she’s feeling her oats!

Bella is very happy to be with people, the most people-oriented cat of our experience.  And she loves us both equally.  That, too, is somewhat unusual as cats often choose a favorite.  Such a lovely little soul is our Bella.

That little cat from Animal Haven has been with us for only a matter of weeks now, and already we don’t remember life before Bella.