Cat friends are weird…

One of the things I never expected to gain through cat rescue was friendship.

When people think about rescue work, they usually think about the cats. The kittens. The bottle feedings. The traps. The late-night emergency texts. The endless laundry and cleaning. And while all of that is true, what I never anticipated was the incredible people I would meet along the way.

Cat rescue has introduced me to a lot of people. When you have a lot of cats, you naturally end up talking to a lot of humans. Some are looking to adopt. Some need advice about cat behavior. Some have found kittens under a porch and don't know what to do next. Most conversations are brief and transactional.

Then there are the rare ones that stick.

For me, those people are Morgan and Jennifer.

If I had to describe Morgan in a single sentence, I would say that Morgan is an exclamation point.

She is loud, energetic, passionate, earthy, and unapologetically herself. During one of our first conversations through Facebook Messenger, she described herself as a hippie. It made me laugh because it was exactly the vibe she gave off. Warm. Free-spirited. Cat obsessed.

At the time, Morgan had reached out because she was interested in adopting one of my eleven orange kittens. Specifically, she wanted an orange girl. She told me she already had six cats at home and had been dreaming of finding an orange female for years.

That orange girl happened to be Cheddar.

We arranged a meet-and-greet, and honestly, it was over from there.

The funny thing is that our conversations quickly stopped feeling like conversations between two strangers. It felt like reconnecting with someone I had known forever. I remember telling her that I was pretty sure we were the same person. We shared the same excitement, the same passion, and the same belief that reducing the stray cat population matters.

What started as an adoption inquiry became a friendship.

And through Morgan, I met Jennifer.

Morgan and Jennifer have one of those friendship stories that makes you think the universe had a hand in it. The kind of friendship everyone hopes to find at least once in their life.

If Morgan is an exclamation point, Jennifer is sweet tea with a stick of dynamite dropped into it.

She has the sweetest Southern accent you've ever heard, but underneath that sweetness is enough fire to keep anyone on their toes. She is kind, caring, and incredibly funny, but she is also fierce when she needs to be.

I learned that very quickly.

The first time we worked together, we were trapping a male and female community cat. As often happens during TNR work, some concerned neighbors approached us. They were worried we were going to harm the cats they had been feeding.

The neighbors were visibly upset and headed our direction with questions and concerns.

Without missing a beat, Jennifer handed someone the can of cat food she was holding and said, in her sweet-but-spicy Southern drawl, "Here, hold this."

Then she immediately stepped forward and positioned herself between us and the approaching neighbors.

I remember watching the entire thing unfold and realizing something important about Jennifer.

She is a protector.

She is loyal.

She is kind.

And when the people she cares about need support, she doesn't hesitate.

That moment told me everything I needed to know about her.

Before long, the three of us were spending countless hours together trapping cats, coordinating rescues, solving problems, and dreaming about what more we could do for the cats in our community. Somewhere between the traps, the cat food, the transport runs, and the rescue emergencies, it stopped feeling like volunteer work and started feeling like family.

Then, because apparently none of us understand the concept of taking things slowly, a few weeks later we found ourselves doing something completely spontaneous.

We attended a fundraiser called Tats for Cats and all ended up getting similar cat tattoos.

Because of course we did.

When your friendships are built around saving cats, getting matching cat tattoos somehow feels like a perfectly reasonable life decision.

Looking back, I realize that rescue work brought these women into my life at exactly the right time.

People often tell me they admire the work we're doing, but the truth is that I couldn't do this alone.

Every rescue needs people who believe in the mission.

People who answer the phone.

People who show up.

People who help carry the emotional weight when things get hard.

Morgan and Jennifer are those people.

What started as cat friendships became real friendships. The kind that extend beyond rescue work. The kind built on trust, laughter, shared purpose, and a mutual willingness to jump into the chaos whenever a cat needs help.

The dream of building a rescue started with me.

But these women took that dream, poured gasoline on it, and helped set it on fire.

And for that, I will always be grateful.