Life hasn't been easy for Stella.
The small kitten with scruffy fur and matching orange-tinted eyes was born in September and still has no home. Just months ago, Stella's mother was living near a park in Kawasaki with neither food nor shelter. With winter looming, the days growing shorter and bitter winds picking up, it was all but certain that she wouldn't survive until the new year.
But just as the sun was setting on this resilient mother, Yuri Ishii came to the rescue. After receiving a report in August that a pregnant cat had been seen wandering in a park, Ishii got into her car — a vehicle she affectionately refers to as the "cat taxi" — and took custody of the mother-to-be. Days later, the cat gave birth to four healthy kittens, including Stella.