At the start of the new year, I was in a pretty bad state. I'd had to suddenly and unexpectedly have my previous cat, Ash, euthanized due to complications from congestive heart failure in December, and it was really hitting me hard, mentally. But exactly four weeks after one of the worst days of my life, I happened to see a post on my city's subreddit about a stray kitten someone had found and couldn't take care of themselves. I actually was planning on getting another cat later that week, I had a meet and greet with a foster scheduled, but I just kept going back to that post, and something in my head kept telling me she was the one. I'd had that same feeling with Ash, when I adopted him from a friend that'd found him. I wound up picking her up the same day.

When I first picked her up, two things were immediately clear - she was not in good shape, and she was not happy about it. All teeth and claws and hissing whenever I tried to pet her inside the carrier. Can't blame her, I guess. She wound up needing to go to the emergency vet, her gums were very pale and testing would show she was severely anemic. They weren't sure if she would make it. But two blood transfusions and two overnight stays at the emergency vet later, she had pulled through and was good to go home. I wound up naming her Ember, thanks to her feistiness, her coat, and the fact that it was thematic with Ash, though I guess in actuality embers come before ashes.

She was still very frail and wary of me the first week or so, but over time her health improved and she became more trusting. There were some more speedbumps along the way;  a couple months in, the tip of her tail sort of just... fell off, which necessitated a trip back to the emergency vet. Turns out that the top couple inches had probably gotten crushed in something at some point, and due to the trauma all that skin was just dead. Fortunately, that wound up healing just fine on its own, and since then she's been all good.

Now, 7 months later, she's still a troublemaker. She loves trying to eat inedible things and keeps me up way too late wanting to play. But she's so sweet when she wants to be, and I think we really have grown close. Sleep deprivation aside, she's been so good for my mental health, and I'm happy to have her companionship.

Happy birthday, girl.

This little butthead turned approximately 1 year old today. Happy birthday, Ember!