Shawna Solberg wasn’t planning on adopting any animals when she entered Best Friend Animal Society’s shelter in Kanab, Utah. She and her two daughters were planning on simply going on a tour of the place to see what it was like. She already had two cats and a dog at home, and she told herself that she didn’t need any more animals.
At first, Solberg was able to keep her promise to herself. She and her daughters toured Best Friend Animal Society’s sprawling facilities, going through the dog building and around the shelter’s large grounds. But then, they reached the cat building. Solberg looked through the window and saw a cat looking back at her, and she was instantly intrigued.
The cat was 12-year-old Oscar, a white and orange cat who was missing half his tail and the outer parts of his ears.
At first, Solberg thought Oscar lost his ears from fighting. But then, one of the Best Friends’ cat caregivers told her that he had actually lost his ears to skin cancer. And even though Oscar looked tough, he was really a big sweetheart:
“He just loves people and he loves being held, more than any cat I’ve ever known,” Danielle Barnhart, a cat caregiver at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, told The Dodo. “He puts his arms around your neck to give you a hug, and he nuzzles his head under your neck. He’d be content doing that for hours.”
Solberg decided that she wanted to meet Oscar. She went into the cat building, and one of the cat caregivers picked Oscar up. Solberg didn’t hold Oscar because she was busy watching her younger daughter, but she did pet him. The cat closed his eyes as he snuggled with the caregiver.
When she saw how sweet Oscar was, Solberg knew she wanted to adopt him.
As they left the cat building, Solberg told her daughters what she was thinking. Her daughters teased her about changing her mind, but they didn’t try to stop her. They had fallen in love with the cat too.
Solberg told one of the cat caregivers that she wanted to adopt Oscar. While they were excited that he was going to go a good home, they did have some sad news to give Solberg:
“They had just found out that Oscar had tumors in his lungs and [asked], ‘Would we still be willing to give him a home?’” Solberg told The Dodo. “I knew I didn’t mind it because if I could give him a loving home for even a small amount of time, I was willing to deal with the heartbreak that would surely be associated to loving then losing him. But I had to see what my daughters thought. I didn’t want to share the heartache of losing him with them without them accepting the possibility first. Both did not hesitate to agree that we still wanted to bring him home with us.”
Now, Oscar has settled into life at the Solbergs’ house.
Oscar sleeps during the day while Solberg and her daughters are at work and school. At night, he cuddles with them.
Solberg loves having Oscar in her home—she can’t imagine life without her loving, earless kitty. This sweet cat has found the perfect home!
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