When Esther, a two and a half year old girl, met a tiny shelter kitten, Peanut, their hearts connected and arms interlocked. It was from the start that the two knew they were meant to be best friends forever.
Meet Esther and her furry friend Peanut the cat.
"This photo was the moment we told Esther that he would be her very own little kitty, and we were taking him home," Kerry Hjelmgren, Esther's mother, told Love Meow.
Esther held the kitten in her arms, tightly to her chest and didn't want to let go. The kitten reciprocated the love by purring in the embrace and snuggling away.
The two buddies met once before when the family took their daughter to see a batch of kittens at the shelter. They wanted her to pick a kitten that she could build a special bond with.
"These two were instantly taken with one another."
The day after the adoption, Esther woke up with her best friend purring right next to her. She told her mom so proudly that Peanut is her baby kitty!
When Hjelmgren was little, she was given a ginger kitten named Rusty, and they were together as best friends for 20 years.
Now her daughter found Peanut, and they share a bond so strong that it's reminiscent to the good old times she had with her feline best friend, Rusty.
As Esther and Peanut grew, their bond only got stronger.
Now the two buddies do everything together.
"Peanut never misses the action - he plays with Esther's toys, lets her tuck him into bed," Hjelmgren said. The ginger kitty doesn't like to leave his buddy alone in the bathroom so joins Esther in the bath sometimes.
"Thankfully, he loves water, and drinks it out of the sink regularly!"
"Peanut loves to be held like a baby, which Esther has done (literally) from the start. She acts like a little mother to him," Hjelmgren told Love Meow.
"He bounds into her room, and jumps up on her bed every morning and purrs her awake - they are so close, and have both found a great source of love in one another."
It's been about three months since they found each other. They are completely inseparable, giving each other constant cuddles.
"Every single day they prove he was the best gift we've given our daughter."
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