Trying to avoid being sent off to boarding school, ten-year-old Arabella wishes she could become a cat, only for her wish to reveal itself as a nightmare after all. Against her wishes, Arabella's stepdad is determined to send the ten-year-old off to boarding school. Thinking of every possible way to avoid this ill fate, Arabella wishes she could become a cat.
Though she thought becoming a cat would solve all her problems and get her out of going to boarding school, when her wishes come true, Arabella is in for a rude awakening. As she quickly discovers that her new life as a cat is fraught with unknown terrors, she begins to realize her former life was not so bad after all.