“I’m going to try this – I’m not used to conversing with people, not used to conversing with much of anybody – but I want to be a real cat, and I can imagine being loved. Yes, loved. I’m called Bailey, and I’m a girl. I’m white with some grey tabby accents. I think I’m pretty; I checked myself out in the window glass. I’m careful about getting up close and personal, but I’m willing to think about it.”

“So, if you’d like to sit here and talk to me – say things like ‘Bailey, you’re a fine girl’, ‘Bailey, you’re pretty’, I’d like to listen. I spent most of my life outdoors which is a scary place to be when you’re a small Cat Woman. Way back when, some human must have taken me to a vet because I have no front claws, and I’ve never become a mom cat. But how does one get food and life with no front claws? Imagine trying to eat with no fork. Imagine trying to eat with no fork when the food keeps moving – and prefers not to be eaten. But I did it. And I’m still here.

“I think the kind people who got me here to Feline Rescue brought me food from time to time. I might have been just one more cat who came to earth and left again without them. So many of us just pass through and never make our mark nor find our people. Yes, I’m cautious, but I am kind. If you’d been alone, you’d be cautious, too. But Bailey has hope. Yes, she does! She hopes for love and affection and a real home and forever people and even some toys. Real toys! A red catnip lobster, I think.”

“I am Bailey, and I am warm and cuddly and pretty. I think I’m about five years old. I imagine. I hope. I look at people, and I think, ‘Could you be Bailey’s person? Could you pet my little head and say I’m pretty?’ Come over and meet me. Bring a red catnip lobster, just in case. Bring $120, too. I want to be a people cat!”