He was not a «cat person», as he puts it, but that was before he met Bambi. «I just fell in love with her,» says Abdul.
At the time, the female kitten was in a euthanasia shelter in North Carolina. A foster family had to be found quickly for the young cat. When Abdul was contacted about it, he agreed right away, despite his lack of experience.
Bambi suffered from anxiety, as did he himself. The more time passed, the more they became attached to each other and the more they made each other feel good. So much so, he said, that he considered her the one who saved his life, not the other way around.
Abdul was only supposed to keep her with him for a while while he prepared her for adoption, but in the end he decided to adopt her himself. A real chemistry developed between him and Bambi.
When she looks at him with her big eyes, he feels like she’s saying, «I’m here for you. I love you. It’s going to be okay.»
With the arrival of Bambi, he realized that his calling was to take care of cats. Something he’s been doing consistently for two years now.
«Sometimes I take two or three at once, because if they have siblings, I don’t want to separate them.
He adopted five of them. He laughs, by the way, when he recalls that these kittens followed him around the house. «It was crazy,» he says.
In total, Abdul has adopted 18 cats, all of whom have found new families. Every time one of them leaves, he is both heartbroken and happy. «There’s a part of me in them, and a part of them in me,» he says.
