Bella (no, not Twilight-related!) came home almost two days ago. I lost my sweet cat Richie a week ago, and am still grieving for him, but giving someone new a safe, loving home always helps me. Maybe it's because I grew up with multiple pets and for most of my life it remained that way. At any rate, here's Bella, with me now.
She's a bit jumpy, and for now she's mainly choosing to live under my china cabinet. She comes out to take care of the necessities, and once in a while to be petted. I'm often finding myself lying on the floor, petting her, though! She loves petting, and has a good, loud purr. Bella is a *very* dilute calico - is there a term for that? The first photo here was taken by her previous human. The colors in it are pretty accurate. The second pic is one I took just after she arrived home with me, and her coloring looks a few times brighter than it actually is. She was hiding her face, trying to be as tiny as possible (which is not tiny at all!). I see that I'm going to have to post the 2nd pic in a separate message. .. I'm having trouble getting a good pic of her under the china cabinet, and, so far, she's not been out long enough for me to take one. I'm sure she'll decide she's safe here, soon enough (I'm patient!) and will be sure to take more photos then.
I think she may have been bullied by one of her littermates at her former home; either that or this is genetic shyness. Maybe a combination? At any rate, I'm prepared to stay in it for the long haul while she gets comfortable.