Meet Colleen! She's a friendly, cuddly 13-week-old kitten living at the Humane Society of York County in South Carolina.
When Colleen first came to the shelter, everyone noticed she was missing her tail. The staff thinks she wasn't born this way, but they don't know how she lost it since they don't have information about her life before coming to the rescue.
What they do know is that missing a tail doesn't slow Colleen down at all. She's one of the most social kittens they've ever seen. Whenever she gets the chance, she runs around and cuddles with the other kittens at the shelter.
"She's definitely a playful little girl," says Vicki, who works at the shelter.
One day, Vicki walked into the cat room and saw something that made her stop and stare. Colleen and another kitten named Pedro Pascal were holding paws through the bars of their cages.
"It was so cute. It looked like they were making a little heart with their paws," Vicki said.
While Vicki often finds kittens playing with each other through their cages, Colleen and Pedro were different. They were just quietly enjoying being together.
"They were just sitting there with their paws touching," Vicki said. "They weren't playing at that moment. They were both just lying there peacefully."
Even though they weren’t littermates, the two kittens had become best friends. Sadly, someone adopted Pedro, leaving Colleen behind at the shelter. But don't worry – Colleen has plenty of other kitten friends she loves spending time with.
Since Colleen loves being around other cats so much, anyone thinking about adopting her should really think about getting a second kitten too.
"We always tell people that if you're going to get kittens, you should get two," Vicki said. "It's not because we're trying to make people take more kittens. It's because they really do much better when they have a friend."
As more young kittens keep coming to the shelter, people keep passing by Colleen. But Vicki and everyone at the shelter know how special she is. She’s fixed, up to date on her vaccines, and now she just needs someone to take her and a friend home.
"She's the perfect kitten in every way," Vicki said. "She's playful and energetic, and she's silly, but she's also a huge cuddle bug."