Tiny Kitten Refuses To Leave His Sister's Side When She Gets Sick
They lost their mom — and now they can't be apart
Martin and Purrla were born at Friendswood Animal Control in Texas after their mother was taken there as a stray. She had gotten into a fight while she was pregnant, and ended up with a severely infected and broken leg. Despite the shelter’s best attempts to help her, the mother cat’s leg had been infected for too long, and she sadly passed away a week after her kittens were born.
After their mom passed away, Martin and Purrla became incredibly attached to each other. Since they were all each other had left, they stuck to each other like glue, and refused to ever be apart, even for just a second.
“The kittens are closer than the atoms in a chunk of steel,” Troy, a volunteer at Friendswood Animal Control, told The Dodo. “They go everywhere together when we let them out for exercise/playtime. If you see one, the other is close by. We have a rule. When one is taken out of the cage, the other is too. If not, the kitten left tries his hardest to escape while wailing his heart out.”
When Hurricane Harvey hit, the shelter began having some issues with their central AC, and it became too cold in the cat room at one point. Little Purrla came down with a cold for two days as a result — and while she was sick, Martin absolutely refused to leave her side, not even to eat.
“Upon reflection, I now think Martin knew exactly what was wrong with Purrla,” Troy said. “That she was too cold. Every day he sat there on top of her. No biting, no wrestling, no ear twisting. He wouldn't even get up to eat. We had to spoon-feed him because he wouldn't get up for water. Only to use the facilities, then it was back to the watch post. When we went to inspect her after we noticed she was blinking and meowing again (before she only slept and ate) he hissed at us. Didn't take a swipe, just a hiss, and everyone was surprised.”
Everyone was shocked when Martin hissed, because normally, he’s the absolute friendliest kitten, and they knew it had to be because he was wildly protective of his sick sister. Martin knew she wasn’t feeling well, and he was determined to protect her until she was better, no matter what.
Luckily, Purrla made a speedy, full recovery, and before long she and Martin were back to playing and cuddling with everyone around them, especially each other. They love each other a ridiculous amount — and they’ll never have to be apart, because as soon as Purrla got better, the pair were adopted into a loving forever home together.
Martin and Purrla may have had a rough start to life, but now they’ve found a new family, and as long as they have each other, they’ll always be the happiest kittens around.