- Cat, Chai’s, sudden death devastated her devoted owner, Kelly Anderson, 32
- Kelly chose to clone Chai despite criticism and cost
- The cloned kitty, named Belle, carries Chai’s memory while forging her own identity
Here Kelly shares her story in her own words.
Lying in bed one afternoon, I felt my beautiful cat Chai crawl up next to me.
She pressed her back against mine and stretched out happily.
‘I love you, my precious kitty,’ I said, thankful for her comfort in that moment.
It was October 2016, and I was going through one of my more intense episodes of depression – something I’d struggled with since childhood.
My beloved fur baby, then five, had been there for me since the day I adopted her at six months old.
When I got her, she was unwell and malnourished.
Now, Chai was a picture of health.
A sassy puss, she was a cheeky pal for my dog, Ghost, and always meowed for me when I left the room.
‘You two are funny ones!’ exclaimed my housemate, Erin, when she watched me and Chai sing and dance along to Disney songs in the lounge room.
In March 2017, I arrived home from a weekend away.
Erin was also away, so we’d had a pet sitter.
‘Hello, beautiful,’ I said, stroking my kitty.
Something seemed off with her, though.
A week later, she appeared lethargic and quiet, and wasn’t eating, so I took her to the vet.
‘She has a plastic wrapper lodged in her intestines,’ the nurse said.
The next morning, Chai was prepped for surgery.
‘Would you like to say goodbye?’ asked a nurse.
‘No, it’s okay,’ I said, unfazed.
I just knew Chai would come out of the op okay.
Later that afternoon, I got a call from the vet saying the surgery had been a success.
Ecstatic, I danced around the living room.
I was all dressed up as I was heading out to the theatre.
‘I’ll pick up Chai before the show starts and then I’ll meet you there,’ I said to Erin on the phone.
Arriving at the clinic, I sat in the waiting room and a nurse came to meet me.
‘She isn’t responding,’ she told me, gently, explaining there had been unexpected complications.
‘We’ve tried resuscitating her…’
My heart sank.
Chai was gone, and I’d never even got to say goodbye.
I walked into the back room to see my kitty.
Holding her, I sobbed, devastated.
My mum, Jeanie, then 54, picked me up and I stayed at her place.
The next day, I remembered a conversation I’d had with Erin two weeks earlier about cat cloning.
She’d heard about it at her job as a technician at a vet clinic.
What if I cloned Chai? I thought, already determined.
READ MORE REAL LIFE: Our Aussie cat musters cattle!
READ MORE REAL LIFE: Our superhero cat can smell diabetes
I researched all night and found that, while it isn’t an option everywhere, it is where I live in the US.
So the next morning I phoned a pet cloning service, just an hour’s drive north from me.
The woman who answered said I’d need to give them a sample of Chai’s cells, usually taken from the ear or belly.
She explained that scientists then pluck out the DNA from the cells.
Taking an unfertilised egg from a donor animal, the egg’s nucleus – which contains the genes – would then be removed and replaced with the nucleus of Chai’s cells.
Then, the new egg, which would be carrying Chai’s DNA, would be implanted into a surrogate cat.
‘Clones are identical but they don’t carry the history or exact personality of the original pet,’ said the woman on the other line.
And they couldn’t give me an exact timeline of when my copycat would be born.
Then she told me there was a hefty price tag.
But despite the cost, I still wanted to proceed and was grateful to receive a loan from somebody close to me.
You’re not being replaced, Chai, I thought. I just want to carry on a piece of you in your memory.
‘If anyone was to clone their pet, it would be you,’ said Mum, giggling.
But not everyone was supportive of my decision.
‘They’re preying on your grief,’ a friend said to me.
Christmas came, and I was still waiting for my kitty.
‘She’ll be with us one day,’ I said to Ghost, patting him.
READ MORE REAL LIFE: My cat shops at Bunnings!
Finally, in September 2021, I got a call to say my sweet kitten had been born.
She was worth the wait!
So I flew interstate to retrieve my kitty.
‘Hello, you,’ I said as she curled up on my lap and fell asleep.
I was instantly in love.
Wow, you look just like Chai! I thought, taking in her beautiful white and tan fur and light blue eyes.
Naming her Belle, I brought her home to meet the rest of my growing fur family – my five huskies Ghost, Nym, Summer, Laika and Grey, and my three other cats Mayonnaise, Remington and Spiffy.
Unlike Chai, Belle is outgoing and adventurous.
But at times, I’ve been certain she was Chai.
In November 2021, I was lying in bed and Belle crawled up and stretched her body against mine.
Chai, is that you? I thought, spooked.
Since having Belle, I feel like she’s living the life Chai deserved – a happy and healthy one.
Chai’s time on earth was cut too short, and Belle is carrying on her memory – not replacing it.
Through Belle, the love I have for Chai lives on.
This story was published in 2022.
