Little Kitty Helps Mexican to Survive in New Country

When Nayeli Marcial moved to Canada, she didn’t expect a little kitty to be her salvation during difficult times.

“When I’m feeling down or when I’m feeling sad, I think she can feel it. She always comes and sleeps on my chest,” she said.

Nayeli Marcial, 23, left Mexico in 2018. She moved to New Brunswick looking for a better future. However, during the first months, she felt lonely and homesick since her family wasn’t with her.

“I didn’t know too many people by then and my roommate was always traveling so my house was very quiet. I was very by myself all the time.”

After getting some advices from her mom, Marcial adopted a cat named Maggie.

“I saw her at the exhibition at PetSmart, and I fell in love,” she said. “At first I wasn’t really sure about getting a cat, but when I saw Maggie, I knew she was going to be very special for me.”

Since the first day together, Maggie turned up to be very friendly and joyful. Both created a unique bond as mother and daughter, where Maggie was Marcial’s best friend, confident, and – especially – her biggest company.

“She’s always following me around. If I’m in my room and I go to the kitchen, she will go with me,” said the Mexican.

When she was living in Mexico, Marcial used to live a cat. But she assures the connection with Maggie is different because, while the other cat was her parents’, Maggie is only hers.

“Whenever I tell her ‘Maggie, just go to sleep’ or ‘Let’s go to sleep, its night’, she follows me and then jump into bed, so definitely is different.”

After two years, Marcial moved to a new place with two new roommates. Both had already met Maggie in the past, but never lived with her before. This was a concern for Marcial, thinking there was going to be lots of tension between them.

Even when, at first, Maggie didn’t seem to get along with one of them, the connection with the roommates turned up to be serene and easygoing.

“I used to be her least favourite,” said Valeria Gutierrez, one of Marcial’s roommates. “She would never hang out in my room or get treats from me.

But after some months, Gutierrez, 22, found some ways to earn Maggie’s love and attention.

“She loves hanging out with Nayeli, so every time they were watching a movie together, I would join them so Maggie could see I was pretty chill and didn’t mean to hurt her,” said Gutierrez.

Maggie turned out to be a support pet to Gutierrez too, especially after long days at work where she wouldn’t talk to anyone – even her roommates – about it.

“When I see Maggie I’m just like, I’m just going to lie down next to her, pet her, use her as my therapy cat. And it honestly helps me a lot with everything.”

Marcial felt grateful since her ‘reason to live’ – as she called Maggie – was not only supporting her, but also getting along and helping her two closest friends, without knowing it.

“She has been helping me since day one, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that,” said Marcial. “She is my everything and I don’t know what I would do without her.

Marcial and Maggie are the clearly example of love at first sight. After so many time spending together, their connection keeps getting stronger through the pass of the months, confirming only one thing:

A pet can be the biggest support to someone, especially during tough times where everything seems to be lost. In this case, Maggie helped Marcial to survive during her transition to a new country.