Young woman enters shelter to take home the “least adoptable cat”
The 22-year-old Madeleine was looking for a furry friend to accompany her at home, and she entered the shelter with a clear goal in mind. She wanted to give a senior cat a chance at a forever living home, and she especially wanted a feline that has been overlooked by others and would be deemed the “least adoptable”.
Madeleine’s life has been incredibly rough over the past few years, she lost two of her close friends as well as her dad.
To make things worse, she also had some troubling times in her relationship and had to say goodbye to her career as a professional ballet dancer.
“She’s 22, and in the last two years, she lost two friends and our dad. She also went through a rough relationship patch and retired from her professional ballet career,” her older sister wrote on Imgur.
She wanted a spark of happiness in her life, and Madeline decided to adopt a cat and give the four-footer a warm, loving home with plenty of affection and love. Madeline’s sister still recalls how she specifically wanted the cat that nobody else would even care about.
“So she did what any good sad person would do. She got a cat. But not just any cat. She walked into our local shelter and asked for their least adoptable cat.”
At the local shelter, the young woman fell head over heels in love with the 16-year-old ginger kitty named Chester.
The senior cat definitely hasn’t had an easy life either. In fact, he was a long-time resident at the shelter and has already been there for over a year, watching his furry friends leave to forever homes while no one ever even considered adopting him. That is until Madeleine came.
“Meet 16-year-old Chester. Dropped off by his owner when she went to college, he’d been in the shelter for over a year, hiding in the corner of his cage, outshined (outshone?) by all the kittens,” Madeleine’s sister added.
The shelter staff tried to warn her about the consequences of adopting a senior cat, but Madeleine had an absolutely perfect response ready.
“When my sister picked him, the employee (noting how young my sister is) said, “you know what it means to adopt a 16 year old cat, right?” My sister said something to the effect of, no animal should die in here. I’m so damn proud.”
An absolutely beautiful thought. Even though that Madeleine knew that she probably wouldn’t have the company of Chester for longer than a couple of years, she wanted him to live out the rest of her life surrounded with love and affection – however long that may be.
Chester has been thriving at Madeleine’s place, and despite his old age, the cat isn’t showing any severe signs of health issues.
“Happy Chester at the vet for a checkup! All good!” she said to iHeartcats along with a picture.
“I saw him in the corner [of the shelter], and I saw that he was so old, and he was SO fluffy,” she recalls. “He looked like a teddy bear. I just had to hold him.” When I got to spend time with him, we instantly bonded. Wherever I sat, he followed and hopped up on my lap…I had no idea what I was getting myself into with cats, and I didn’t care. I knew I had to have him.”
“He is the king of the household. He took about 5 hours to adjust, and now he loves it,” Madeleine told iHeartCats. “He is such a cuddler, and loves to be allowed to cuddle on laps. He loves to play with strings, and yarn. He is very curious.”
“Chester is such a sweetheart. While his face looks ‘grumpy,’ he is absolutely loyal,” Madeleine concluded.
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Source: imgur, iHeartcats