Nashira came to Happy Cats with her brothers and sisters from foster care. She was a sleek black kitty with big eyes and a sweet personality.

She loved to play and wrestle with her siblings, and she quickly made friends with the other kittens in her colony.

But she wasn’t as outgoing with new people. Nashira was hesitant to come forward and trade purrs for pets. She needed a proper introduction to strangers and a little bit of patience. As her more sociable siblings found homes, the volunteer staff introduced Nashira to clicker play in order to help boost her confidence.

Nashira soon developed a very special talent! She learned to pray, holding both her front paws in the air, on cue. Her special talent earned her a YouTube video clip. She also became more confident, coming up to the colony door and greeting new people with an enthusiastic purr.

A little bit of her hesitancy still leaked through her newfound self-confidence. She needed a gentle hand—someone who understood that she was a loving cat but needed time to open up.

Laura and her daughter, Claire, came to Happy Cats looking to add a new member to their family. They meet several of the available kitties. However, when they meet Nashira, there was an immediate connection and they took her home.

Nashira was scared in the beginning. She hid under a bathroom cabinet for the first few days in her new home, and then she spent a lot of time under the bed. Laura was patient, though. She waited for Nashira to get used to the new smells and different surroundings.

Slowly, Nashira stopped hiding under the bathroom cabinet and didn’t spend all her time under the bed. She started to snuggle with Laura, occasionally helping her with the computer. And she also started to bond with Claire, purring and headbutting.

Nashira got the gentle hand and patience she needed to transform into a sweet, loving girl who wants nothing more than to hang out with her people.

“Thank you for giving us such a wonderful cat,” Laura tells us. “We love her so much and feel so grateful that she is part of our family.”