More than a cat rescue
My Friends of Normie Experience
By Elyssia Koulouris
Since I was a little girl, I have always wanted a kitten of my own. This dream began as soon as I saw the cat from the Disney classic, The Aristocats. You know the cat, Marie, with her pure white fur and pink bow on her head? She was full of sarcastic remarks and sass, and I loved her.
When I moved to Los Angeles two and a half years ago, I was confronted by its obsession with having a dog- man’s best friend and the classic bonding tool. Dog parks and dog rescues saturate this city where, at times, people treat their dogs with more respect than fellow humans.
Why didn’t this appeal to me?
As a foreigner, sure I would suffer the sting of homesickness, but something about this Los Angeles dog club didn’t appeal to me. Perhaps it’s the fact I am more of an extrovert with introverted tendencies, I’ll never know. As time passed I found myself overthinking the process of adopting a kitten, searching on all the generic sites, and coming up with excuses not to do it. Every morning as I left my apartment, I was greeted by my neighbor’s Calico cat perched in the window.
I would later find out the cat's name was Kira and I was in love with her.
Days went by, then weeks, then months. Suddenly, one random evening, with a cup of Earl Grey tea in hand, I was scrolling through Instagram to escape how lonely I felt. Suddenly, I was greeted by a post featuring five kittens, four of them being pure white, some with green eyes, others with blue, I clicked the profile; Friends Of Normie (FON).
I discovered it was a cat rescue page and that these kittens were nicknamed the Water Family, a little theme to make identification easy I assumed. As I swiped, one kitten caught my eye, she was pure white with green eyes, and I knew that was it.
I immediately sent a message inquiring, and discovered to my horror that they were left abandoned in a duffle bag. The pang of sickness filled my stomach at the cruelty of human beings. I set up a time to meet the fosters.
They say animals choose you and I now know that to be true. I picked up this tiny white kitten. Her huge emerald eyes stared up at me. She fit perfectly in my palm. She had the cutest pink nose, pink paws and pink ears. As soon as she nestled into my arm, I knew.
She chose me.
As she snoozed in her carrier beside me on the way home (it basically drowned her with how huge it was) I knew I had to come up with a little cat name. As I drove, I contemplated with uncertainty about what name would be fitting. I thought Pinkie could work or Snow, or Ghost, but they seemed too generic. Then, I glanced down at the oval opal ring that resides on my right fourth finger. This opal ring had such significance to me as I inherited it from my grandmother. It dawned on me, Opal. That had a nice ring to it (pun intended).
I adopted her a year ago, and nothing could have prepared me for the love, and community that is FON. I could not believe how easy they made the adoption process, the vet they set me up with, the influx of information and help whenever I needed it. They made the entire process stress-free.
I met the woman behind the organisation, Ladan, and was immediately blown away by how someone so young achieved such a great feat. Her genuine care, warmth, and relentless hard work have been instrumental in the success of this organisation. I am honoured to now call Ladan a dear friend. It’s amazing how adopting a cat changed my life the way it did!
FON granted me with not only a new furry friend but also a friend in Ladan and an entire community of people who are passionate about banding together in the pursuit of rescuing cats in need.
Opal helped break the ice with the neighbours in my building (they all call her the watch cat), made me closer to existing friends, and introduced me to an entire FON community of rescuers, fosters, and helpers.
For this, I will always be grateful to Friends Of Normie for changing my life for the better!