Brielle is an unusual cat in several respects. She seems to have only half a tail; it’s short and stubby. Some of her front toes seem as though they’re joined together. Her gait is different than that of most other felines, and she often holds up one front paw when standing still. It turns out that she has some shortened bones, fused digits, and joint abnormalities, almost certainly the result of a birth defect. However, she is in no discomfort and gets around without any problem. She jumps as well as any other cat and we have seen her move very quickly when the occasion warrants! Note that it is possible that these conditions could be progressive, and they could become painful or cause Brielle to become arthritic; we simply don’t know. Our best guess is that she was born around mid-August of 2008.

Her markings are unusual, too. Now, there’s nothing strange about a black-and-white cat, but where most have white feet with black or black-and-white legs, Brielle has white feet, and the white continues halfway up her legs. It’s a very distinctive look, and she’s easy to pick out. She’s very cute and knows it!

Even her personality is unusual. Brielle is highly intelligent and very sweet with most people. She gets along with other cats, except under two circumstances. If they annoy her repeatedly, as do the young’uns in our Community Room, she sometimes becomes impatient with them. But the unusual aspect of her personality is that she goes after bullies without fear. Bonnie is a dominant cat in the Community Room and has no use for the little ones. Once, after Bonnie had walked by a sleeping kitten and hissed/swatted at the kitten without provocation, I saw Brielle leap on Bonnie, and Bonnie is twice her size! This has happened repeatedly with the bullies, so it’s not just that she doesn’t get along with one particular cat.

We know Brielle is not a good fit for every household, but we are sure there’s someone out there who can cherish her just the way she is.