Nala the street cat was found cold and starving on a kind woman’s doorstep in 2018. The woman, Michelle, immediately brought the cat to a shelter thinking Nala would be cared for.
Unfortunately, she realized after Nala was taken in that it was a kill shelter. Upon discovering this, Michelle worked tirelessly to get Nala moved to a no-kill shelter, a foster home, or anywhere that would keep Nala alive.
Thankfully animal foster-er Beth Stern and the North Shore Animal League stepped in to save the day.
Nala meets her Simba
Once Nala was rescued from the kill shelter, Stern began looking for a forever home for her.
It just so happens that a cat-loving couple named Linda and Bill were looking for another kitty to keep their cat Simba company.
Simba had turned up outside Linda and Bill’s home way back in 2005. He was clearly a stray and had developed toxoplasmosis in his right eye, a parasitic disease that is usually benign in cats, but in Simba’s case, eventually led to his eye being removed.
Simba’s ordeal ended when Linda and Bill took him in, he bonded strongly with their cat Snowball and it was smooth sailing until Snowball passed away in 2018.
Soon after this Simba began to deteriorate, he became sick and depressed, grieving his feline friend.
Although Linda and Bill were reluctant to take in another cat so soon after the loss of Snowball, they couldn’t watch Simba suffer any longer.
So they decided to see if they could find another cat to help ease his pain and that is when they found Nala. Linda explains:
“We felt the name Nala was fitting as she helped heal Simba from his broken heart.”
Nala and Simba had both been coincidentally named after two characters who found love in Disney’s The Lion King.
Simba was wary of the new feline in his house at first but it wasn’t long before Nala broke down his walls and he let her in.
Safe and sound
Nala took to her new home straight away, she clearly had a zest for life that couldn’t be stopped, despite her rough upbringing.
It’s hard to believe how such an affectionate, playful cat, survived on the streets for so long.
Nala brought so much joy to Linda, Bill, and especially Simba, the two felines are now inseparable, bonded together for the rest of their lives.
