And Emmy Makes Three

By: Aimee Wilson

Hello and welcome to the third post on the Calico Catch-Up monthly column!

In the last post, I talked about how my welcoming my second cat, Dolly, into my life had been a goal in my mental health recovery for so long. In this post, I’d like to tell you about the cat who inspired the name of this column; my little Calico kitten, Emmy, who I adopted after losing Dolly in 2018.

After less than a week without Dolly, it was obvious that my lop-eared lionhead bunny; Pixie, and I needed a third companion. I knew no cat could ever fill the Dolly-shaped hole we had been left with, but I was hopeful that a new cat would be a positive, fresh start.

To make absolutely certain that something good could come from losing Dolly, I decided to adopt a rescue cat rather than buy privately as I had always previously done.

My Mum saw Emmy’s photo on the Adoption Centre’s social media and as soon as I saw her unique markings and beautiful, big eyes I knew she was to be the new addition to the family.

I made the decision to buy all new toys, bowls, and scratching post etc for Emmy because I didn’t want to feel that I was replacing Dolly by having my new kitten use her old things. Going to collect her from the Centre was so exciting but also hard because it felt as though in adopting her, I’d be letting go of a piece of Dolly – almost as though it’d cement the fact that Dolly really wasn’t coming back.

Meeting Emmy, though, and watching her try to steal sausage rolls from the staff of the Adoption Centre, I knew I had made the right decision for me and for Pixie and that Emmy’s hilarious little personality would bring a new light to our lives.

With Emmy being a rescue kitten – she was found wandering the streets at only a few weeks old – it has taken almost a year for her to really settle in.

Funnily enough, the aspect I was the most hesitant about – Emmy and Pixie meeting – actually went really well and they seemed to very quickly accept one another and bond. There have been other areas where she’s made changes and improvements though…

Initially, when she first came home, she would wolf her food down in one sitting as though unsure where her next meal would come from. Now, she seems to know that she can trust and rely on me to feed her.

The other change has been with her confidence; she was a very nervous, flighty kitten and even when she seemed to be fast asleep, if there was a noise she’d jump up and hide. That seems to have improved and she now has deep sleeps and is less fearful of sudden or loud noises.

Emmy was also very timid when people would come to visit and usually wouldn’t come out of hiding until she heard my voice reassuring her. She’s gotten more confident, and though she still needs my reassurance and is sometimes a little bit unsure, she mostly investigates and is curious around others. She especially loves to give head-butts and rub her cheek against any part of your body!

The final change in her so far, has been that she wouldn’t go outside when she first came home.

When Emmy first arrived home, if the backdoor opened, she’d cower and run to another room to hide, eyes huge, and tail bushy.

At first, I wasn’t sure that I wanted this to change too much as I’d already decided I wanted her to be an indoor cat. However, I didn’t like the thought that she was so scared and that maybe part of that fear was that she’d been traumatised by being left on the street when she was so young and belonged with her mum and litter mates.

Fortunately, I had the answer to this fear already in my home: Pixie! When the weather was nicer and Pixie started going out into the garden again, Emmy seemed to take courage and confidence in having a little companion with her! Seeing them chase each other around and sit alongside one another eating grass is so therapeutic and can cheer me up to no end when I’m struggling with my mental health.

I’m so glad that I didn’t listen to the people who thought adopting Emmy was too soon after losing Dolly and who worried that I hadn’t dealt with Dolly’s passing and was using Emmy purely as a distraction from it.

Emmy has definitely helped me to cope – but not because she’s a distraction. Having Emmy has been the only silver lining to losing Dolly; if I hadn’t gotten her then I would’ve felt so completely hopeless and distraught, and I don’t know how I would have got through that. Emmy rebuilt me and has helped me to survive.

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Aimee is 29 and lives in Northumberland with her calico cat; Emmy, and Lionhead rabbit; Pixie. After being admitted to a psychiatric hospital for two and a half years, she created a mental health blog and it now has almost three quarters of a million readers. Aimee wanted to start this column because she’s very passionate about illustrating the benefits animals can have on your mental health.