
We're in the Pet Weekend at Weekend Experiences, so it's time to introduce mine or should I say, our pets. But first ...
Before we dive into the post, I want to let you know that I've hidden some Ecency points throughout the text. If you want to win them, all you have to do is read and comment the numerical combination accompanying the Ecency phrases (this combination will change, and the Ecency points might vary too, so no peeking in the comments, no cheating!). This little game will be available for the first 30 hours of the post. I hope you enjoy both the post and the hidden treasure!
I've been with my current partner for a little over 2 years, and for a while, we had wanted to have a pet. She's a huge animal lover, especially cats. Ever since she was little, she's always wanted a kitty, but life circumstances didn't allow it. On the other hand, I'm more of a dog person. My sister and I adopted a few when we were kids, so we could never agree on what to adopt.
But life works in mysterious ways, and before we knew it, we now have 3 beautiful cats in our lives, all of whom came to us in very different ways, and of course, none of them were planned.

The first addition to our family was Nailam. My partner and I had been together for a few months when we came across this little cat. A close friend was looking for a safe place for Nailam because she had been abandoned and separated from her family (we don't know why). The moment my partner saw her, she fell in love with her, so most of the decision was already made. I just had to nod my head in agreement, even though I wasn't too thrilled about the situation.
Nily with its mom 😅
This moment was one of the happiest for my partner. Since the cat didn't have a name, we had to come up with one. We settled on Nailam (the brightest star in Orion's Belt). But because the name was quite unique, everyone ended up calling her Nily, and it stuck. Nily has always been affectionate and playful, right from day one. She showed a strong connection with my partner as if they were meant for each other, destined to be together. In fact, Nily sees me and immediately runs to my partner, as if she wants nothing to do with me. But it doesn't matter; I love her as if she were part of our family.
Six months later, the second addition arrived. It was a rainy day, and we were out running errands. While waiting for our turn, we heard some faint meowing.[Here begin the hidden points, so you've already earned yourself 10 points! (1)] It was clearly a newborn kitten. We started searching for where it was coming from until we found him. Covered in dirt from the rain and so thin and tiny, we looked at each other and knew what we had to do.

We were a bit apprehensive because we already had Nily, and adding a second cat would be challenging for my partner's family. They have a large house that is more suitable for pets, so they stay there. We hid the kitten in my partner's room for a few days until we could leave him at their doorstep, making it seem like someone had left him there.

Smsm when we found it
My father-in-law found him and couldn't say no when he saw him. He welcomed him as one of the family. It was a victory for us. Now we had two cats. We named him Smsm (which means sesame in Arabic). My partner's family is from the Middle East, and they called him that because of his color, resembling sesame, and how tiny he was.
You've earned 5 points! more (5) Keep reading, there might be more hidden points or not, who knows.
We were a bit worried that Smsm might be a sickly kitten and could pass away at a young age. But during his first visit to the vet, they assured us that he had been well taken care of and was extremely healthy. Since then, he hasn't left my side. So now we each have a cat.

Just 2 months ago, Orion came into our lives (we later changed the name because Orion decided to change genders). Let me explain...
Luna the last time we saw it, a few days ago
This little cat entered our lives, and I believe it was karma. One day, while we were having lunch at my partner's house, we started hearing meowing, and our cats seemed to be sensing another feline presence and were quite intrigued. So we went out to see where the sound was coming from.
We realized that the sound was coming from our doorstep, or rather, from the fence facing the street. We found a newborn kitten (probably just a few days old). It seemed to have been abandoned, but by whom? Where was its family, its other siblings? We tried not to dwell on those thoughts and acted quickly.

Without much hesitation, we brought the kitten inside, gave it some milk, cleaned it up a bit, and introduced it to the other cats, who accepted it as one of their own and helped it feel at home. Again, we were worried that the family might reject this new addition because we already had two cats, and feeding them at times could be quite challenging.
Fortunately, they didn't object. The next step was to give the kitten a name. We initially thought it was a male cat and named it Orion (my partner's favorite constellation). The funny thing is that after a few months, we had to change the name because the kitten started developing female genitalia. It was a female cat! So we renamed her Luna (my partner had wanted a female cat from the beginning, so you can imagine her happiness).
This kitty is more of my sister-in-law's than ours. My girlfriend's sister fell head over heels for this little cat and won't let go of her. We hardly get a chance to see her, but when we do, it's like she remembers that we were the ones who rescued and took her in. She plays with us as if she's known us forever, as if we're part of her daily routine.
Thanks for sticking it out until the end, that's why I want to reward you with 10 points (4)
Smsm again 😍
That's how our feline family came together, three cats who came into our lives in very different ways but whom we all adore. Many people don't grasp the magnitude of love we have for our pets. It's something that can't be explained; you just feel it, and I hope more people in this world could experience this kind of love.
The truth is, there's no loneliness that those four little paws can't heal. Even though they can be a bit feisty at times, our cats never fail to make us laugh every single day.
And how about you? What kind of pet do you have? How did they come into your life?
Did you catch the numerical combination? How many points did you manage to accumulate?
