My name is Ella Sheppard!

Ella is a beautiful, sweet, silly girl who is learning to gather more confidence with each day.  She is the litter mate of Sheldon, whom she does everything with (pictures don't lie!!).  At intake she had zero confidence in herself and very little trust of humans; sadly, for legitimate reasons.  She and her litter mate, Sheldon, have a very sad backstory.  Their human passed away and the remaining human in the house abandoned them and the home, causing the landlord to put all of the belongings and kittens out on the street.  They literally lost everything.  Ella, at intake, kept her tail tucked tightly under her body and kept her back hunched at all times to make herself as small, and invisible, as possible.  At feeding time she'd crouch run and hide until we walked away from her food station.  Today, she bounces over to her food station while I'm putting the food down, talking to me the entire time.  She'll even let me love on her and give her kisses on her shoulders while she's eating!  She has the teeniest, tiniest, sweet voice!  She's a soft talker for sure:)  Yet her purr is SO LOUD!  She rubs up against me & hooks her tail tightly around my wrist as if she's a possum.    She has learned what the camera is and LOVES having photo shoots!!  When we walk into their room she no longer runs to hide in a cubby; she continues to lounge in the sun on a cat tree, cubby or floor, or walk over to get cuddles & kisses.  She has created a silly routine of playing with the ball track every single time I scoop their litter box - silly girl.  She is still working on growing her confidence about doing interactive play with us outside of her cubby; she wants to play wand toy outside of her cubby but can't do it for long before running into her cubby and attacking the ribbon from the "safety" of being inside the cubby.  She's getting braver every day, though:)  Each interactive play time is longer than the time before.  She's getting braver about being held for longer periods of time; the other day she almost fell asleep on my lap!  She will provide someone with so much love!  She'll just need someone who is willing to be patient with her and let her integrate into the home at the pace she's comfortable with, given her trust issues.  Once she trusts you, though...let the love and fun begin!!