My name is Ella Sheppard!

UPDATED!!  When I first posted her bio she was slowly learning to trust humans again after her traumatic backstory with her littermate, Sheldon.  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!  We’ve been doing our best to love that trauma out of the both of them and…IT’S WORKING!!  Before I focus on Ella’s progress like me repeat myself from the 1st bio that she and Sheldon still do almost everything together (pictures don't lie!!).  Ella’s gone from keeping her tail tucked tightly under her body at intake to now ASKING to be picked up while we’re standing.  When she first began to ask to be picked up for cuddles she wasn’t relaxed, in fact, very rigid, while we held her yet, she made no attempt to get down.  Now?  When we’re standing and she’s in our arms she melts into our bodies, tucks her adorable black nose into the crook of our arm and purrs the loudest purr.  By giving her lots of kisses, ear rubs, head scratches and words of affirmation about her bravery we slowly taught her that it’s safe to be held while walking from one room to another.  Now, she’s able to be transferred from a lap in one room to the lap of another in a completely different room.  When the handoff takes place she simply melts into position for her continued nap.   In her 1st bio I posted “She has the teeniest, tiniest, sweet voice!  She's a soft talker for sure:)”.  That is no longer the case.  LOL!!!  She LOVES to talk to her toys throughout the day; even walking around with her beloved soccer ball in her mouth just talking away.  She’s so loud that we can hear her talking upstairs while we’re downstairs watching the tv.  Also, at cat meal prep time she and Sheldon love to sing to us.  Sometimes they sing in unison and sometimes they harmonize.  We get so tickled EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!  If we had Grinch hearts they would definitely be exploding with the joy of hearing her so comfortable in her “home” and skin.  Speaking of her voice…when she meows, she actually says “ME-OW”; it’s SO ADORABLE especially since she’s such a strong enunciator!!  A HUGE change to report is about her confidence.  At intake she had very little confidence and we’ve been overjoyed every time we witness her doing something that proves she’s feeling more confident.  But that joy pales in comparison to what we felt a couple days ago (at the time of this posting) when for the first time she not only showed awareness that there’s a cat highway in the home but she decided “Hey!  I can do that!!”…AND SHE DID!!  She didn’t want to move to the adjoining wall but she did go as high up (about 8 feet) as she could on the wall she was on.  She stuck her neck out and sniffed the next step on the adjoining wall so it won’t be long before she’s braved the entire highway.  More proof of her self-confidence is watching her strut through the house, with her tail crookedly up in the air, doing her model cat walk; she honestly walks like a model on a runway!!  In her original posting I wrote “She has created a silly routine of playing with the ball track every single time I scoop their litter box - silly girl.” But what I neglected to add was that the ball track was just inches from my toes while kneeling at the litter box in their room.  Now that they’ve integrated into the entire home Ella follows me from litter box to litter box, in 4 different rooms, keeping me company by hanging out on each tree near that particular box.  So…if you’re looking not only for a lap kitty but a shadow/Velcro kitty then Ella is your girl!  She wants to be on a lap whether I’m reading, working a puzzle (see pic), or watching tv.  I can’t forget to add that she LOVES to be cradled in our arms like a baby.  And does that girl love belly kisses!!!  And she loves giving nose touches!  She’s such a lover girl!  This part still holds true from her 1st bio, although I do believe it’ll be a faster transition since she’ll be further removed from her trauma – “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!!”