Rescue Stories: Olive - It Was Love at First Sight

Hello and Happy Friday!  Today as part of our Rescue Stories series I present Olive. Olive is also a NYC kitty, who we met on Instagram and then became great friends with. Would you believe our Mom and her Mom were at an event together before we met them? Imagine that! Read on learn more about her love at first sight story, and how she filled her human’s heart and home with more love than she could ever imagine. 
Lola

As long as I can remember, I was always a cat person. I just loved them!  Growing up as a child my mom did not want pets in the house, so I "adopted" all the strays in the backyard of our building (I grew up in Israel and there were lots of them).  This was before I knew the hardship of stray cats, or about spay and neuter.

We moved to America and to my surprise I found out that I was allergic to cats.  The hopes of getting a cat of my own when I would eventually grow up and move out were crushed.  

One winter, my friend got a new kitten and to my surprise there were no allergies.  After a few weeks some of my dear friends convinced me to “just go and look” at cats at the ASPCA in NYC.  That Saturday we did not see any cat that seemed to be the “one“ for me.  The following Saturday we were the first ones in line at the ASPCA when they opened. I really wanted was a small kitten and we were told there was only one, who the previous week had an eye infection.  All of her siblings were adopted the week before.  We went upstairs and I saw this little grey tabby jumping all around the room playing with the volunteers.  I think I fell in love that moment.  I got to meet “Beatrice”, who shares her birthday with my dad.  She did test positive for FIV which I knew nothing about.  I was taken around and met other cats, but kept thinking of her in her little cubby calling to me. The vet at the ASPCA met with me and explained FIV to me and that there was still a chance she was false positive. I decided to take a chance.  

This was the first picture I took of Olive. I texted it to my friend and told her I think she is going to be my cat. 

“Beatrice”, who I renamed Olive, was the perfect little kitten. She used the litter box right away; she played and ate and did not hide or cry at all the first night.  She slept in my bed and the next morning made biscuits on me - she was (and still is) amazing.  There were no accidents, nothing broke, it was perfect.

Olive's first picture at home. I should have known by that look on her face that she had a mind of her own

I never expected a cat to have such an impact on my life. In the 4 years that I've had Olive, she has transformed my apartment into a home.  Sometimes it feels more like it's hers and I'm just allowed to stay, but it's still a lot of fun. She is always at the door waiting for me to come home and always calls me to sit next to her when she has dinner.  Our bond grows stronger year after year.

Olive sleeps at the top of her refined feline tree every night while I watch tv. Before I go to bed, I stop and pet her and she turns side ways and give me this look. She then follows me (or sometimes leads the way) to bed

Olive is a joy. Whenever I have a bad day or am stressed out, she makes it all go away. She has inspired me in ways I never imagined.  After adopting Olive, I started noticing the stray and homeless cats waiting for adoption at centers.  Having Olive, and hopefully, giving her a great life, made me want to help the less fortunate ones.  Because of Olive, I started volunteering at KittyKind rescue group in New York City.  I just cleaned and fed initially, but recently I started helping with the intake team.

 One of her favorite activities is to sit in the tree and look out the window. Not sure what she sees, we face another building. 

Olive recently made her Instagram debut, the cat community on Instagram is amazing.  I think she enjoys her account as much as I do.  I know I've enjoyed sharing her and imagining what she would say, knowing how sassy she is.

Oh yeah, 4 weeks after I adopted Olive she was retested for FIV and tested negative.  At that point, the test results did not matter.  She was mine and I was hers forever and I was committed no matter what.

 Olive's first real tree was her first Hanukkah  gift. She doesn't alway make it all the way to the top but when she does, I usually make a big deal out of it and she looks at me like I'm crazy  

Olive is the love of my life.  I am so happy I adopted her.

Olive lives in the West Village in New York City with her mom.  You can find her on Instagram at @olive_without_her_human.