2 cats were huddled together in a drain pipe before they were rescued and remained inseparable

Two calico kittens were living in a drain pipe by a busy street in a town in California. A kind person was feeding the sisters and they were getting along reasonably well, but they were headed for a tough life as feral cats. And probably a short one to boot.
Their feeder, Esmé, decided the kittens should be rescued. She set up a humane trap with extra yummy food, and the kittens were soon headed to her house for fostering.
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Esmé J
The challenge with the two beautiful girls, whom Esmé named Mochi and Badu, was that even though they were kittens they were more than a few weeks old. That meant they would likely be somewhat difficult to tame and to place in forever homes. Esmé and her husband, Mike, were ready. They spent a lot of time with the girls, holding them, playing with them and talking to them. They used techniques known to help wild kittens get comfortable with humans, such as slow blinking, hand feeding and containment in a small room.
The idea was to adopt Mochi and Badu to a loving home together. The sisters had never been without each other, and it pained Esmé to think of them living apart. It was taking extra long to get the kittens to settle down, however, given their age and experience of living in the wild. And kittens find homes faster when they are small and adorable. The more time passed, the more Esmé and Mike were concerned about finding the right home.
Esme J
Esmé took another step in the process of socializing the kittens--she invited visitors to come over and meet the two. And while Mochi and Badu did not hiss and hide, they were not exactly jumping in other people's laps. The kittens had warmed to Esmé and her husband, but they were not fully accepting of others.
Finally Esmé found a family that wanted both girls! How would it play out?
Mochi and Badu were returned after only two days. The family did not follow instructions about introducing them slowly to the household. And, to be fair, Esmé said that with kids and dogs in the home, the environment was probably too much for the calicos.
A few days after they returned, Esmé told Mike she was ready to promote them again for adoption and he said, "Oh no, we're not putting THEM through that again!" Of course he meant HE couldn't go through that again.
The couple already had two indoor cats plus a stray they fed in their backyard. And they had recently been through a sad farewell to an older cat they had taken in for her last few months. Was it crazy to consider adding another pair of cats to their home?
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It turns out that enlarging the family to two humans, four indoor cats and one backyard kitty was less stressful for Esmé and Mike than worrying about finding the right adoptive home for Mochi and Badu. And so the family grew. With all the love and laughter shared in the household today, it's a sure bet that the two calicos aren't the only ones who feel inseparable.
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