Gillian Simpler & Sage
I got Sage as a foster fail during the school-from-home days of COVID. I had always grown up with cats and had fostered in the past as a true cat-lover, and within a few seconds of having Sage I knew it was going to be a foster fail. I really wanted a companion during a time when we would be home so much, but even past that I always loved to foster cats for the companionship and I could tell right away that she was going to be such a good one. When I first got her, she was a scrawny little kitty but she always had her big adorable thumbs. Sage is polydactyl and you can tell right away, she has about 7 toes on each foot! When she was a tiny kitten she would follow me all over the room which I found adorable, but I also realized I no longer had any form of privacy. She would climb up and sit on my shoulders, keep me company during online classes, and snuggle up with me at night.
One of her first funny quirks was that she loves to play fetch. As a kitten, we would play just on the bed, as I would throw the toy to the end and she would come running back and drop it off. It got to a point where I would be woken up in the middle of the night by her dropping a toy on my head! As she’s gotten older, she still loves to play fetch and will do crazy jumps in the air to catch the toys.
Another quirk is that she used to really enjoy going outside. When she was a couple months old, I got her a little leash and started to allow her to explore outside. She really enjoyed walking around, scratching at the trees, and would even try to run places and I would have to keep up on the other end of the leash. She has always been a very adventurous and energetic kitty!
Now in New York, Sage is my best friend. She is a big lap kitty and loves to hang out with me no matter what I’m doing. She will sit up on the counter as I cook, drink from the bathroom sink as I’m getting ready, and lounge on my lap as I watch tv—as I said… no privacy!
Every day when I come home from work, Sage is ready and waiting for me at the door! For the first ten minutes that I am home, she follows at my feet and gets all of her pets in. Sage also loves her cat tree, she sits up on the highest level and likes to watch over the rest of the room. Her favorite toys are my plastic curly hair ties which I am always having to steal back from her.
Every night she comes up and cuddles with me right next to my head before ultimately falling asleep at the foot of my bed. Sage loves to lie on her back with her belly up in the air. She does that all over the room to get my attention and will lounge upside down on my lap. She is a big furry girl!
Gillian is a food and animal lover. She moved to New York a year and a half ago to attend culinary school and then worked on the corporate side of a large restaurant group. She is just about to begin working at the Food Network.