Jessica Roy, Lucy & Odette

"Lucy came to me a couple years ago when she was 1 year old; she was the third cat I fostered--the other two were adopted. Lucy wasn't currently eligible for adoption because she was a feral who was rescued wandering alone and hungry in Coney Island. She was shy and afraid of humans, so the rescue organization was hoping someone with cat experience could coax her out of her shell. She lived with me for three months--eating, sleeping, even playing--without letting me touch her once. Every time I went near her she hopped away with this terrified look in her eyes. Then, one completely average day, I was watching TV and I reached out my hand to pet her--and she let me. She has been completely bonded to me ever since. She literally does her whiney meow when I *stop* petting her. I knew after we developed a connection like that I couldn't let her go, and I didn't want her to have to go through starting a relationship with a new person, so I decided to adopt her.Odette came to be about a year after I adopted Lucy, also as a foster. She was tiny and scrawny with the worst cat breath I've ever smelled. She was living in a cage in a hoarder's house with several other animals, and was rescued by ACC and taken in by Brooklyn Animal Action. I was just planning on fostering her, but again fell in love--mostly because of how she and Lucy interacted. The two bonded IMMEDIATELY as if they were sisters from the get-go. They snuggle nonstop, groom each other, play together--they even look almost identical. I know a lot of times it's difficult introducing a new cat into a home, but it could not have gone better for these two."Jessica Roy is a writer and editor at New York Magazine's women's website, The Cut, living in Brooklyn with her two cats. She also does rescue work with the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and helps assist a friend who runs a working cat program based in Crown Heights.