A cat took a stray kitten under his wing after she was found in the woods.
A few months ago, Mila Litvinova was taking a walk in the woods when she heard a kitten's cries. She followed the sound all the way to some thorny bushes and discovered a little stray, meowing loudly for help.
The kitten was all alone without a mother in sight. "When I found her, she was very tiny, about three weeks old," Mila told Love Meow.
Mila couldn't leave her there to fend for herself, so she scooped her up and brought her home. "She was so small that she didn't know how to eat from a plate, drink water or go to the toilet on her own."
The kitten was placed in a comfortable, quiet room and named Penelope (aka Penny). To help her eat, Mila fed her with a syringe around the clock, taught her how to use a litter box and tended to her every need.
"She cried every time I left the room, so I stayed with her all the time, even at night," Mila shared with Love Meow.
After a period of quarantine, Penny was ready to meet the rest of the feline crew. Mila has two resident cats (Marusya and Zhulik, both rescues), and one of them could hardly wait to meet the new kitty.
Zhulik the ginger cat was immediately intrigued by the little stray when she arrived. "He heard her but couldn't enter the room. So he sat by the door all the time and meowed," Mila said.
Zhulik would come running and patiently wait outside the room whenever he heard the kitten meow. When the door was finally opened, he was ecstatic.
"The second he saw her, he ran around her, hopping and wanting to play."
Penny was a bit intimidated at first by the size of the big kitty, but within an hour, they just hit it off, playing and scampering around the house as if they had always been friends.
"Zhulik was watching Penny all day, taking care of her. At night, he went to sleep with her," Mila said.
Since then, they have been completely inseparable, like two peas in a pod.
Mila and her family thought they would just foster Penny until they found her a good home. "After we saw them together, we could not separate them," Mila told Love Meow.
"They sleep together and hug all the time — their favorite thing to do. They love and trust each other very much, and feel relaxed when they are together."
Watch Penny and her best friend in this cute video:
Penny looks up to her big brother and follows him everywhere around the house.
"They like to go crazy and turn the house upside down. They can fight and wrestle with each other, but all the fuss always ends with hugs."
Penny is very clingy to Zhulik and constantly wants to play.
The ginger cat puts up with her unbridled energy and showers her with love. They share an incredibly close bond.
"My walk through the woods ended with a third cat in our house," Mila said.
The little former stray is thriving in her forever home. Nothing makes her happier than cuddling with her best friend.
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Related story: Stray Kitten Finds Family That is Kind to Him, and Decides to Move Right in