"Blue and I found each other last September. Every day I'd take the subway at Union Square, and almost every day I'd see her playing in her cage. She was with a woman who was offering cats for adoption. The kittens in other cages slept peacefully. Blue, however, was a pistol. She would try to catch my eye- and she always did. Though I wasn't a cat person, I visited her every day for a month, until I asked the woman what this little kitten's name was. "Her name is Blue," the woman stated proudly. I laughed for the first time in months. How could this cute, happy and playful kitten embody the antithesis of her name? The fact of the matter was, living alone, and feeling discouraged, I myself was the blue one. I looked into her eyes, and she actually winked at me. It was love at first purr. Meant to be. I adopted her within a week after that. I soon learned that Blue was a "special cat." Aside from being a "polydactyl cat," or "Hemingway cat," and having an extra digit (she actually looks like she is wearing mittens!), I noticed that the wink she had given me was actually a problem: her face was different on one side and it didn't move at all! After bringing her to the Vet, she was diagnosed with Horner's Syndrome, which is paralysis of the face on one side, caused by a chronic ear infection. After three months of treatment, two different doctors, and one surgery, doctors tell me I saved her. Today she is completely healthy. Still lazy on one side, but no infection. She is the perfect, most loving and playful little thing. Adopting and saving Blue saved me. It taught me resilience. Throughout the entire process of her treatment, you'd have never known she was ever in pain. She was never "blue." And every time she winks at me, it's always a reminder of the most important lesson throughout this process that everyone- men and women- need to hear nowadays: "Your imperfections make you purrfect," I tell her. Your imperfections make you purrfect." @meghan_farrell is a jewelry designer and photographer based in the East Village. @mf_jewelry #girlsandtheircats #catlady #adoptdontshop #catlovers
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