Written by Julia van Asselt
Professional photography by Leandre Brand Photography
Ruby was found as a tiny tuxedo kitten in a battered cardboard box outside a shopping mall, along with her two siblings. Unfortunately, that’s all I know about her start in life. Before coming to us as a foster in September 2024, she and her siblings had stayed with another foster family and they were all extremely anxious and shy.
When Ruby arrived, she was incredibly nervous. For the first few days she stayed hidden under the bed in the bedroom, only slowly starting to come out after some time. Even then she was still very scared whenever she saw us. After about a week, we were able to gently approach her, but petting her was still very frightening for her.
With a lot of patience and time, we slowly began to touch and pet her, always carefully and without sudden movements. I think it took a few weeks before we could fully pet her comfortably.
After around two months, I began to notice that she was trusting me more and more, and her personality slowly began to shine through. She turned out to be a very vocal cat with a little princess attitude, wanting affection whenever she decided it was time. She became incredibly loving towards us.
Eventually, we realised that Ruby was ready for adoption. She’d come such a long way, but by then we couldn’t imagine our lives without her – she’d completely stolen our hearts. So we decided to adopt her and make her a permanent part of our life.
For a long time Ruby was still quite skittish around strangers, but now, about a year and a few months later, she’s mostly comfortable with new people and completely trusts us. Even to this day, I can see her becoming more relaxed and confident. At first, I couldn’t pick her up at all. Then, a few months ago, I was finally able to lift her, and recently she’s even started to enjoy being held and lying in my arms.
Seeing the progress she’s made has been incredibly heartwarming. Watching her play outside in the garden and get the zoomies is one of my favourite things. She’s gone from a very shy, frightened kitten to a confident cat who now even chases other cats out of the garden, as if she’s protecting her home.
We also have a bedtime routine now. At around 9:30 every evening, she begins meowing at me and following me around the house to let me know it’s time for bed, which means she wants to lie next to me and be petted. She walks right in front of my feet, guiding me towards the bedroom, and if I don’t go immediately, she makes sure I know she’s not pleased by meowing louder and sometimes even gently placing her paw against my leg.
Her favourite activities are napping, climbing trees, chasing little geckos, screaming at us in the middle of the night, sleeping in bags or boxes, and her favourite food is tuna.
She’s the sweetest cat, and we love her so, so much.
