A feline that called a New Kensington cat rescue home for more than a year found its forever home with a Washington Township family mourning the loss of their first pet.

Myla, a female short-haired brown tabby, lived at Frankie’s Friends Cat Rescue for more than a year until her adoption Friday, assistant manger Rachelle Ebel said.

Chiarina Popp, 27, took Myla home and renamed her Maple, because it also starts with an “M” and continues the food theme she and her husband, Jesse, had with their nearly 8-year-old cat, Pasta, who was put to sleep two weeks before Jan. 14 because of a sudden infection.

Maple quickly took to the couple’s 9-month-old daughter, Ruby, rubbing against her and purring on their first meeting.

“They were both interested in each other,” Chiarina Popp said. “I don’t think Maple had seen a baby before. Ruby was excited to see something smaller than her.”

Ebel said Myla was about 12 weeks old when she arrived at Frankie’s Friends. Upon noticing her blood was not clotting correctly, they held off on spaying her, checked her blood and found she was suffering from severe anemia without a clear cause.

The cat was on medication for six weeks until her clotting tests came back as normal and then was spayed, Ebel said. But there were still days when she was lethargic and weak, signs of mild anemia.

“We were concerned about adopting her to a family,” Ebel said. “She became one of the clinic cats.”

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About 10 cats with chronic medical issues live at Frankie’s Friends. Myla often was featured in posts on the rescue’s Facebook page.

“She’s been here for so long. She was always getting into mischief,” Ebel said. “She did and went wherever she wanted at Frankie’s and could even open doors. All of the other cats loved her.”

Chiarina Popp had seen Myla’s pictures last year, noticing she looked a lot like Pasta, whom they also had adopted from Frankie’s Friends in 2019 when Pasta was about 5 years old. Pasta wasn’t the kind of cat to share her home, so the couple wasn’t looking to get another.

“I thought she looked like Pasta would have looked when she was a baby,” she said. “I thought she would get adopted right away.”

But soon after Pasta died, Chiarina Popp saw Frankie’s Friends share another picture of Myla, looking cute inside a brown paper bag.

“We were not intending to get another cat any time soon, but then I saw they posted Myla again and that she was still there, which surprised me,” she said. “I asked if she was available.”

Myla had been medically cleared for adoption, but Ebel said the staff liked her so much they were in no hurry to see her go.

“We had a discussion on her health and our feelings on getting her her own home,” Ebel said. “We were all on the same page that she had months and months and months of no anemia, and her behavior was totally fine, so we decided that it was time. It seems like fate they reached out about her.”

Ebel said the Popps have been told to contact Frankie’s Friends should the anemia return.

“We’re hoping that she’s fully in the clear,” Ebel said.

At her new home, Maple likes to look at herself in a mirror and sleeps in Ruby’s bassinet, which Ruby outgrew and doesn’t sleep in anymore.

Deciding to adopt Maple was difficult, Chiarina Popp said.

“Pasta was a huge deal in our life,” she said. “We thought, the fact that Myla was available right after that happened, it was perfect timing. We wanted to give her a home.”

Ebel said there is a bit of a void at Frankie’s Friends without Myla, now Maple, around.

“It’s definitely weird without her here, but it’s definitely heartwarming,” she said. “It feels meant to be.”