Eight-week-old Rico, who wears a pirate patch, always watches to see his sister Sally’s location. Maybe that’s because, in their ancestral African homeland, the lioness did the work of protecting and feeding the family. Or, maybe Rico looks for Sally because she’s the only aspect of his short life that hasn’t changed or disappeared.

The babies were left alone, long before they had a chance of surviving that way. They stayed together. Maybe that saved them. Maybe two kittens are more noticeable than one. Maybe that helped someone see them and deliver them to the shelter.

Being together has given the kittens courage. Now they’re a tiny, joyous, vaudeville act. Rico and Sally could survive alone, but they’d bring more happiness to a family together.