Princess Belle (moved in February
2001) pictures
Belle came to me through The Animal
Rescue Foundation (ARF). She is a rescued feral kitten. When I picked her up she grabbed on and
started purring. I had been thinking of getting a companion for Minoo
and took Belle home. I kept her isolated for about 10 days to make sure
she didn't have a cold or anything else she could share with Minoo.
Whenever I went in to pick her up she would grab on and start purring.
If I held her for a while she would fall asleep in my arms. However,
once I let her out of isolation Minoo growled at her and she started
hiding. After about two weeks Minoo stopped growling and Belle came out
of hiding, but would not let me pick her up.
After about another month Minoo and Belle started grooming each other. However, Belle wanted to play more than Minoo. Belle started running by Minoo when she was on the bed wanting to play chase. I thought if I got another kitten to play with Belle Minoo would be left in peace. This led to Merlin.
At about nine months old Belle started backing away when I tried to pet her. Over the next few months she seemed to revert to her feral temperament. She got along with the other cats and LOVED Shamu when he arrived. However, she didn't want to be petted and would fight to get away if you tried to pick her up. She never had a traumatic experience with people so I don't know why this happened.
When I had to move to Maryland it became obvious that Belle could not be safely handled and moved. She had lived her whole life inside and was afraid of the outside. With much sadness I had to send her to the Rainbow Bridge.
