Basepaws Cat Stories: Anders, Brynni and Helga

                                                                                Anders, Brynni and Helga

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France

Pets, pets, pets! They are treasured family members in two-thirds of American households (about 71.1 million)! Today, we are proud to share the story of our dear customer Stephanie and her wonderful little bundles of happiness.

Please meet Stephanie, a proud fur-mother blessed with three amazing little bundles, all saved from the streets and all with unique and truly inspiring stories behind them – Anders, Helga and Brynni.

Stephanie’s family turned to Basepaws with the desire to do the CatKit test for their kitties because they wanted to know their familial histories and genetic predispositions. Stephanie explained to us: “I want to learn everything about my cats because I want to offer them the best life possible. We already lost a cat to a neurological disease before, and I want to know if my cats are predisposed to certain diseases and help prevent them. We rescued cats before, but we had no options then. Now we do have an option!” So far, they did CatKit tests for two of their cats, Anders and Helga, and they are planning to do the test for their third baby, Brynni, in the near future as well. “Brynni is a little bit feral and we are still working with her. It would be to hard to obtain a sample. but we are definitely planning to do a test for her too very soon” said Stephanie.

Anders is the boy in the family. Adopted from the Kitty Bungalow-Charm School for Wayward Cats, this once feral cat from the streets of LA is the ultimate lap cat today always looking for a scratch and a pet!

                                     Anders

When they first got this little snuggly bundle, the family thought Anders was a Maine Coon mix. The CatKit showed that Anders was surprisingly a mixture of a Burmese, an Egyptian Mau and a Ragdoll. “It makes sense”,  agrees Stephanie, “he truly does have the fur texture of a Ragdoll and his personality is similar to that in the Egyptian Mau. But Burmese… We would have never said! He looks nothing like a Burmese!”.

Helga and Brynni are sisters who are 1 year and 1 month old. Adopted from The Cat Cove, they were rescued from the streets just like Anders. When asked if she had a favorite feline, Stephanie laughed: “You know, I can’t say that I do. Anders is our lap cat. He’s lovely. But, Helga, she’s my little girl. She has that sass I always wanted in a feline. She’s my sassy little girl.”

                            Brynni and Helga

Helga and Brynni were said to be Siamese mixes. The results of Helga’s CatKit test showed that she was a Himalayan, a Tonkinese and a Siamese. “It explains her blue-pointed coloration and slightly crossed eyes. And she totally has the Siamese attitude. She’s always on the go!” Helga has many toys, because she’s energetic and active. “We got her a cat-wheel runner. We would give her treats so she would relate the running on the wheel with something positive. But she’s too smart! Now she runs to get us to treat her. We’ll get ready for bed and she’ll start running so she can get another treat.” Her favorite toy is the desktop computer.

    Helga on the wheel runner

Stephanie said that they can’t wait to learn about Brynni too. “I’m always refreshing the page. I want to learn everything about cats and offer them the best possible lives they can have”

                                    Brynni

“We were part of the Alpha report and we learned what wildcats are present in our cat’s genes.  Anders had puma, serval and fishing cat DNA, while Helga had jaguar, puma and ocelot. That was fun to hear! After learning this, we really started recognizing the similarities!”

                    Anders, Brynni and Helga

We absolutely loved talking with Stephanie and hearing out the story behind her little felines. We were honored to help her get to know her little felines  on the molecular level and we can’t wait for Brynni to get her CatKit too!

This article was brought to you by Basepaws—the world’s most comprehensive cat DNA test. Learn more about the CatKit at basepaws.com