I never imagined the cat I adopted as a broke student in my mid-20s would become my daughter’s childhood cat, but here we are.

I knew I wanted to adopt a cat, but Cassie dropping into my life still feels like chance. She wasn’t named yet, and had a very different life. She was born to a stray cat on my university’s dorm premises. She was the tiniest and sickliest of the litter, making mama abandon her. A classmate of mine followed her closely, even tried to reintroduce her to mama, but to no avail. The rejection was harsh, and there was no time – she needed help. My classmate took her in, despite the dorm’s strict no-pet policy, and posted on Facebook that she needed to have this tiny kitten adopted ASAP.

And me? I was looking for a cat. I called her up, she invited me to meet her. When I entered the dorm flat, I was greeted by the tiniest dust puffball – the kitten was so small, barely a month old, she could fit in my palm. And she was still very sick. Most of her fur was gone because of a skin condition, and she was thin, despite having a round worm-belly, and her eyes had all problems possible. But she ran to me, snuggled inside my hands, searching for warmth. As if saying, “I still have life in me, I want to make it.”

A few days later I could finally adopt her for good. I named her Cassie, after the absolute fierce warrior character I love – Cassandra Pentaghast from Dragon Age. I hoped her holy fighter spirit would stick to my little Cassie. Months of vet visits and intensive care finally made her healthy, and she grew the sleekest, shiniest black fur coat I’ve ever seen. Having black hair is where the similarities to the original Cassandra end. My Cassie might be named after a mighty fantasy holy warrior, but she’s actually the princessiest princess that has ever princessed.

She’s 7 now. I can’t believe I’m a cat mom for 7 whole years. And… I’m also a human mom for 1 year. I can’t believe I’m raising a cat and a human! That’s insane. But more on that down below.