Meesta. Princess. Rosie. Mayra

“Some of the most beautiful love stories I’ve ever heard all start with someone walking into an animal shelter.”
Kimberly Palmucci

Meesta and Princess are Kimberly’s adopted three-legged cats who serve as the main inspiration behind the Purr-fectly series.

Meesta, a 14-year-old orange tabby, was adopted from the Pennsylvania SPCA in 2011 after being passed up for almost a year because of his limb difference. Veterinary experts told Kimberly that Meesta was born with all four legs; he lost the limb to some sort of trauma in his early life. Meesta also has no teeth from feline stomatitis, and he is perfect in every way! Kimberly credits Meesta with sparking her lifelong mission of helping homeless pets; he showed her how able and indomitable shelter pets can be, and his journey in the shelter and beyond inspires her every day.

Princess is a six-year-old gray tabby and the inspiration behind the third book in the Purr-fectly series. Kimberly never anticipated writing a third book (or adopting another three-legged cat for that matter) but when she came across a photo of Princess on social media, it felt like fate. Princess was born with a limb difference; before she was even one-year-old, she had a litter of four kittens and found herself in an overcrowded shelter down south. She and her kittens were all slated to be euthanized to create space in the shelter, but Monkey’s Pack, a Kitten Hug Connecticut-based rescue, stepped in and saved Princess, her kittens, and several other cats before that could happen. Kimberly adopted Princess soon after and was inspired to write the sequel to the original book when Meesta and Princess formed an immediate and beautiful friendship.

Rosie and Mayra are Kimberly’s adopted four-year-old twin cats who serve as the main inspiration behind The Wormwood Mysteries.

Mayra and Rosie are two bonded sisters who were found abandoned together under a car as kittens. Although they look very similar, Rosie is a polydactyl cat, which means she has six toes on each front paw. She also has several white patches on her chest and belly. After meeting the sisters at an adoption event and hearing their story, Kimberly decided to foster them when they were only eight-weeks old. And the day after Kimberly brought them home, assuring her husband they would only be temporary fosters, the decision was made to adopt Mayra and Rosie. The bond was just too strong, and Kimberly knew deep down from the moment she first held Rosie that it was a fur-ever kind of love.