Matt and I rescued McKenzie Rae from the county euthanasia list in November 2015. She came into the shelter as a stray, then she came home to us as a fearful, malnourished angel. Although McKenzie Rae (her name means “hope for a new beginning”) became ill and almost passed away in the first month we had her, she’s now super healthy, active and friendly. We’re still working on fear issues but that’s a work in progress.
We adopted Leila in October 2016. She was also a stray. Leila was actually stuck in the engine bay of a car and it took rescuers an hour to retrieve her. After about two days of being with us, Leila began to show us her playful, spunky personality. It resembles that of McKenzie. Before we knew it, Leila was attached to McKenzie Rae. I fully believe that animals can sense what each other has been through, and my two beautiful girls connected immediately.
From Strays to Sisters
Matt and I feel very blessed that all six of our animals get along famously. There’s a quarrel every now and then, but it’s just like siblings! Each animal also has sibling preferences, for example Wynston and Khloee are very close, as are Wynston and my cat Sadie.
About three days after we brought Leila home, I noticed her sleeping right next to McKenzie Rae. Leila would follow her around and play with McKenzie as if she were a dog. (Now I’m convinced Leila thinks she’s a dog because she literally does everything with the dogs, which includes playing fetch). McKenzie Rae is a small dog, but big enough to hurt a small kitten on accident. But she surprised me with how gentle she was with Leila. Normally McKenzie gets crazy, jumpy and active when she’s playing and excited, but with Leila she was unusually gentle.
Fast forward a few months. Leila sleeps next to McKenzie Rae in our bed every night. They take afternoon naps together. Leila enjoys grooming McKenzie Rae, and let’s be honest – Kenzers loves it. They cuddle and take turns acting motherly toward each other.
With my own animals I’ve never seen a bond like the one McKenzie Rae and Leila have. Every time I see the girls napping together my heart just melts. As Leila gets bigger, she has more fun rough-housing with McKenzie. I cannot handle how incredibly precious they are together. It’s almost like they know that they were both strays. But now these two spunky girls are sisters, and the best of friends.
Think dogs and cats can’t have close relationships? Think again 😉
Do any of your pets have special bonds with each other? I’d love to hear about your experiences!
I have had animal families who had close bonds, but the group I have now do not experience that . The 3 pups are all brothers and sisters and they get along but just not close and the 3 cats are rescues but wish they were each the ONLY cat in the house???? Go figure – these guys act too much like humans sometimes??? LOL
This is absolutely the sweetest thing! It reminds me of our dog, Stinky, and our cat, Chester, when I was growing up. Those two were incredibly close. Thanks for bringing back some fond memories… 🙂
I love experiencing the relationships that my pets have with each other. That is a good blog post idea, actually!