Introducing Brie and Sorbet; Tiggr was Returned

I didn't name these two kittens. I just kept the names they were given at the shelter. Kittens are often given weird names, especially when there are so many coming into a shelter on a regular basis.  It's a sign of a good shelter that they were given names instead of just numbers!  The shelter where I found them is trying very hard to be both open-admission and no-kill.  They're doing a great job caring for the cats, but unfortunately they don't do as many adoptions in their location as they need.  These kittens were turned in by their "owners" when they were only ten weeks old.  There were originally three kittens in the litter, and when they were turned in they were thin, dirty, had fleas, worms and coccidia.  One of the kittens later died from coccidia, and only Brie and Sorbet survived.  They've been living in cages in the shelter since October!  They're now almost nine months old, and since they were ten weeks old, other than possibly some time in the shelter's play room, they've only known life in a cage. When I saw them there last week, among the many dozens of other cats, I immediately picked them out.  It was so hard to leave behind the rest of the cats, many of whom had been waiting even longer than these two. 

I was a bit worried about them since they've never really known life in a home.  Would they be scared in my house with all the normal household noises and the dogs barking?  Would they feel scared of all the open space since they've been confined for so long?  I put them together in the office and shut the door to let them get accustomed to the room without any distractions.  Next time I went in, this is what I found:

Brie

Brie was hiding behind the chair, looking very afraid.  I talked to her, and she let me pet her, but it was obvious that she was very nervous.  I had left a crate in the room which she ignored, but she later hid under the dog bed in the room and anytime the door opened or closed, I would find her either under the bed or running for the bed to hide.  When I'm there, she gets brave enough to come out and she purrs while I pet her, but even after a week she's still very frightened. 
Then there's her sister Sorbet. 


Sorbet

She's a bit different than Brie in both looks and personality.  Her beautiful blue eyes and unique markings are what first caught my attention, but if I had known what her personality was before pulling her from the shelter, I would have been a bit more prepared.  Shortly after I put Brie and Sorbet in the office, I heard a lot of thumping.  It sounded like the cats were bouncing off the walls.  And knocking down things on shelves and destroying the room.  I'm pretty sure that's exactly what Sorbet was doing.  When I went in and found Brie huddled behind the chair, Sorbet was right there looking out the door trying to see into the rest of the house.  I sat and talked to the cats, and while Brie just looked at me with fear in her eyes, Sorbet ran up to me and climbed in my lap and began purring.  Within 2 hours of being in the office, Sorbet had finished investigating everything in the room and playing with all the toys, and was back to bouncing off the walls.  I finally gave in and let her out into the main room of the house.  She came right out, met Missy and Remi, checked out the bedroom and the living room and the kitchen, and made herself right at home. I debated  letting her stay out all night, but I was afraid the entire house would be destroyed, so I put her back in the office. This cat is going to be so much trouble for some lucky family.  Because although she has unending energy, no fear, and way too much curiosity, she's also sweet and loving and affectionate.  I adore her.

I also received a call from Tiggr's adopters last night.  Although they love him and said he is everything they hoped for, they babysit for their 18 month old granddaughter and she has allergies to cats.  They haven't had cats in many years so they didn't know it until Tiggr came to live with them.  They were very sad to give him up, and I was sad for Tiggr's sake.  But he's back home with me again and will keep waiting for just the right home to come along!