Twenty-two-year-old Madeleine was going through a rough time in her life. In the space of just two years, she lost two friends and her dad. She was also going through a tough time in her relationship, and she had retired from her professional ballet career.
Madeleine needed to do something to cheer herself up, and so she decided to adopt a cat. But Madeleine didn’t want to just get any cat. She had a specific type of kitty in mind.
Madeleine walked into her local shelter and told one of the workers to show her their ‘least adoptable cat.’
The shelter had a cat who perfectly fit the bill: 16-year-old Chester. The ginger cat had been in the shelter for about a year—he had been dropped by his owner when she went to college. He was an anxious cat, and he spent most of his time hiding in the corner of his cage. Everyone who came into the shelter gravitated towards the kittens, not noticing Chester. Until Madeleine came in.
As soon as Madeleine saw Chester, she knew he was the right cat for her.
“I saw him in the corner [of the shelter], and I saw that he was so old, and he was SO fluffy,” Madeleine told iHeartCats. “He looked like a teddy bear. I just had to hold him.”
Chester and Madeline quickly bonded—Chester seemed to know that Madeleine was going to save 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.”
Madeleine told the shelter worker she wanted to adopt him, but the shelter worker was a bit skeptical. Since Madeleine was so young, the worker was afraid that she didn’t understand how hard raising a senior cat would be.
Madeleine had the perfect answer—she told him that no animal should die in the shelter.
Madeleine filled out all the paperwork and took her new cat out of the shelter. She brought Chester to the vet, who said that he was very healthy for his age. Once that was finished, Madeleine brought Chester to his new forever home.
The formerly shy kitty quickly made himself at home, and he declared himself king of the house!
“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.”
Madeleine’s older sister shared the touching story on Imgur, and it quickly went viral, getting over 100,000 views. Everyone loved Madeleine’s decision to adopt a senior cat who had been in a shelter far too long.
Thanks to Madeleine, Chester has a wonderful forever home, and he’ll never have to go back to a shelter again. What a purr-fect happy ending!
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