Two bonded kitten brothers named Ricky and Reggie hid so far beneath a house that the people trying to save them had to crawl in after them, and today they cannot get through a burst of zoomies without pausing to make sure their person is doing okay.
Ricky & ReggieCredit: catz4life
Their story began with a colony and a mother cat who had one very particular talent. During a TNR (trap, neuter, and return) effort, volunteers with Catz4life in Sandy Springs, GA, kept crossing paths with a light orange and white female who seemed to print the same kitten every time she gave birth. This round she had four boys, and each of them arrived as a near-perfect copy of mm, down to the soft orange and white coat.
Someone on the team clearly had a sense of humor, because all four brothers were named after cheeses. Ricky is short for Ricotta and Reggie for Reggiano, while their two brothers came home as Colby Jack and Monterey Jack, better known as Colby and Monty. Their mother made the whole thing look effortless, as though she had hit copy and paste.
Reaching the litter was the hard part. The kittens had wedged themselves deep out of sight, and getting to the last one meant going in after him. "They were hiding way under the crawl space of a home, and our TNR team had to crawl under there to get them," Aimee with Catz4life shared with LoveMeow.
ZzzzzzCredit: catz4life
Their mother, it turned out, was wiser than the team's traps. She slipped through and raised one more litter before the volunteers finally caught up with her, and she has since been spayed and returned to the territory she knows. Her copying days are over for good.
Two of the cheese brothers, Colby and Monty, found homes quickly. Ricky and Reggie looked to be right behind them, with a family lined up and the two boys already taken down from the adoption boards. Then, at the last moment, that adopter changed her mind, and the brothers lost about a month they could have spent landing a home.
The Cheese BoysCredit: catz4life
Setbacks like that are the ones the rescue has learned to absorb and move past. Shifting needs behind the scenes have also meant moving the boys between a few foster homes along the way, which their people hate having to do. Through every change, the brothers have taken it in stride, treating each new house as an adventure and leaning on the one thing that never moves, each other.
Every person who has fostered them has come away smitten. "All of the foster moms who have had the joy of having them have just loved them to bits," Aimee shared.
Ricky and Reggie playing together. Credit: catz4life
It is easy to see why. The brothers curl into a lap the moment someone sits down, and when the energy takes over, they play with the same warmth. "They curl up in your lap for snuggles, and when it's zoomies play time, they often do check-ins with you," Aimee shared.
The routine goes about like this. They race and pounce across the room, pause to look back and confirm their person is doing fine, and then launch off again on the next mission. At about five months old, Ricky and Reggie are goofy, affectionate, and always up for a game of chase.
Definition of cuteCredit: catz4life
Their favorite lookout is the cat tree by the window, where they track every bird and squirrel that dares to cross the yard. When the wildlife starts moving, so do they, two sets of ears swiveling at the same pane of glass.
They do most things this way, side by side. What one starts, the other joins, right down to crowding in shoulder to shoulder for a lick of the same creamy treat.
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NomNomNomCredit: catz4life
More than the games or the treats, though, what Ricky and Reggie want is to be near their people, lending a paw to whatever happens to be underway.
The older a kitten gets, the more its personality settles, and with these two there is very little guesswork left about who they are. They have shown, home after home, exactly the bonded brothers they will be, and no shuffle between houses has ever changed the answer.
I heard you had treats!Credit: catz4life
Not long ago, Ricky and Reggie were tucked so far under a house that someone had to crawl in to find them. Today they are together, healthy, and checking in on the people lucky enough to sit down near them.
Share this story with your friends. More on Ricky and Reggie and Catz4life on Instagram @_catz4life and Facebook. To adopt, visit Catz4life to fill out an application.
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