Joe Kahlo
Holly Knox Brookhouser was in the grocery store shopping for a party to celebrate the second anniversary of her son Marcelo’s adoption, when she checked her phone.
“I pulled up Facebook really quick and somebody on one of our local pages posted this tiny little black furball, saying that they had just rescued it out of the middle of one of the busiest roads that runs through Bentonville, Arkansas,” Brookhouser told The Dodo, “They brought her home but couldn’t keep her.”
After a spring and summer full of fostering, Brookhouser was trying to take a break. But as she watched the comments flooding in, she knew that they wouldn’t necessarily lead to a safe home for the stray kitten.
“I know sometimes those don’t end well, so I couldn’t just stand by — I had to swoop in,” Brookhouser said. “[The rescuer] had said where he lived and I knew that was right by my house, so I private messaged him.”
Minutes later, Brookhouser and 4-year-old Marcelo had the tiny 1-pound kitten in the car. “It was Marcelo’s anniversary day and I thought it was a sweet little memento to commemorate the day,” Brookhouser said. “So we just figured we’d save a life.”
Brookhouser asked Marcelo what he wanted to name the kitten, and after some careful consideration, he answered: Appleseed.
The kitten was surprisingly calm and comfortable around her new foster mom. She climbed right up on her shoulder, nestled in her hair and dozed off.
“I was kind of holding her up high, like on my chest, but she crawled up on my shoulder and just sniffed me a bit and laid down right there and fell asleep,” Brookhouser said.
Appleseed rested on her foster mom’s shoulder for the entire car ride, not even stirring when Brookhouser picked up her daughter from school.
Once at home, Brookhouser realized the little kitten was covered in fleas and dehydrated. But it didn’t take long for Appleseed’s spunky spirit to return. After a few days in quarantine, the kitten broke out of her pen and began policing the other animals in the house.
“She’s the boss now,” Brookhauser said. “She is like dynamite in this tiny little furry package.”
Appleseed is fitting right in with her foster family, making it impossible not to fall in love with her. When she’s not bossing around Brookhouser’s dogs, she makes herself busy attacking her human family’s ankles and giving tons of kisses.
“She greets me in the morning and comes running to me,” Brookhouser said. “She likes following Marcelo around. We’re having to watch out right now because she is under our feet all the time.
When Appleseed is big enough, she will go to her forever home — and there’s already plenty of interest in the little kitten.
As much as Brookhauser has enjoyed her time with Appleseed, she knows the kitten will eventually make someone else very happy. “I think people are secretly hoping I foster fail, but that’s not what I do,” Brookhouser said. “She’s too adoptable.”
