Luka and Axel were the last of their litter.

Their siblings had found homes, and their mother had been absorbed into the SPCA family and become a beloved resident cat. But the two brothers had so far been overlooked.  No one showed any interest in these special souls.

This changed, when a couple, terribly heartsore from the loss of their beloved cat last year, finally convinced themselves that they were missing some feline character in their small family. They wanted to help give a home to a cat or two to honour their second wedding anniversary. Luka’s distinctive black stripe down his head and back first caught their eye months before when Kerry was working on the murals. They visited; the kittens played, and played, and played, and everyone fell in love. Luka and Axel were now a lot bigger than when Kerry had first seen them and the decision was made that they needed to become a part of the family. Luka and Axel went home.

It was immediately apparent that despite their familial links, the two had very distinctive personalities. Luka needed a new name: ‘Paintbrush’ and ‘Brush’ were bandied around until the ever-versatile ‘Bean’ was chosen. Bean settled down as a gentle, clumsy, talkative lovebug. Axel, who kept his name to suit his fiery personality, soon showed his independent, active, loud, ‘beserker’ character.

Once they had settled a little and charmed the resident dogs, Bean and Axel were slowly introduced to the Outside, somewhere they had never fully explored before. Grass was not what Bean expected and was generally avoided at first. Both brothers now enjoy the Outside – perhaps Axel a little more than Bean – and relish taking strolls around the garden with their canine-human-feline pack.

Despite Bean’s clumsiness, it is Axel who has the highest broken glass count so far (3). Bean and Axel have recently learned to show their love by kneading and now regularly ‘bake cookies’ when they go to bed. The current bed-time routine includes violent bathing, where the two brothers enthusiastically clean each other, which inevitably turns into a tackle/fight match. As the saying goes, there is nothing a cat enjoys more than to annoy other cats.

Now, a few months after arriving home, Axel pursues his culinary studies, thievery, and purring skills. Bean hopes to in future become an Art Critic, conversationalist, and professional sleeper, and is well on his way to achieving his dreams.

Thank you to Kerry and Chris for giving Axel and Bean such a wonderful home and for seeing how special it is to adopt the older kittens (teenagers).