Senior cat Simon was slowly wasting away after living in a shelter for 3 years.
Even though Here Kitty Kitty, NJ provided Simon with as much love, care and attention they could, it just wasn’t enough.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako & Here Kitty Kitty NJ
The estimated 10-year-old Tuxedo cat wanted a home of his own again.
Simon had lived with one family his whole life. He even had a feline girlfriend named Spice.
When the humans moved, instead of keeping their family together, they surrendered sweet Simon and Spice to the shelter!
Spice was quickly adopted.
Perhaps it was due to his advanced age or (beautiful) black fur, but Simon continued to be overlooked by potential adopters.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako & Here Kitty Kitty NJ
He was a bit nervous around dogs and young children…well, because he’s a cat!
They knew he’d settle in with gentle canines and humans though.
The shelter just wanted to be sure he found a quiet, loving home to live out his days. It was the least he deserved.
Volunteers and workers watched sadly as the days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years.
Simon soon became depressed in the shelter atmosphere.
He began losing his fur and as his appetite decreased, he lost weight.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako & Here Kitty Kitty NJ
Their vet was consulted and could find no physical symptoms causing his issues.
The gentle cat seemed to be wasting away from a broken heart.
Staff focused on showing him love and snuggles every moment they could. As many shelters hate to admit to themselves that , the dedicated humans at Here Kitty Kitty, NJ were no different.
“We’re watching this sweet, friendly cat die of sadness, and it’s breaking our hearts. We simply cannot give him individualized attention as we tend to all our cats.”
Their plea to adopters willing to accept Simon went even further.
“We’ll help with medical, and ensure that you have a healthy senior in your hands. He’s good with other cats, and simply needs a quiet, loving home.”
https://www.facebook.com/gwenandhomer/videos/10157709926457538/
Then on September 15th, Simon’s story reached Gwen Cooper. Gwen happens to be the “cat servant” to Homer the Blind WonderCat.
She shared Simon’s plight with their more than 830K followers on Facebook who have earned their moniker “Homers Heroes”.
It took less than a day for those heroes to step forward. By the next morning, Here Kitty Kitty had received DOZENS of adoption applications and requests for Simon!
How quick the situation had changed. Now their biggest issue was weeding through the crowd to find his purrfect match.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako & Here Kitty Kitty NJ
One interested family exceeded their expectations.
Fate brought Simon to the attention of Peter and Suzanne Bako of New Jersey.
While in Seattle for work, Suzanne saw the Facebook post and instantly fell in love with his adorable face.
She called her husband Peter and told him, “There is no reason that cat should be in the shelter still. Call them right now and tell them we’ll take him.”
Now the caring couple’s enthusiasm was not necessarily the reason they stood out to Here Kitty Kitty.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako & Here Kitty Kitty NJ
We spoke to Suzanne ourselves, and can attest that their qualifications for giving Simon exactly what he needs, sound like fate.
Suzanne has been a cat lover all her life and is a certified volunteer. Between them both, they have done everything for animals that have crossed their path; infants to seniors.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako
From administering IV’s to taking in a family of stray cats found on their porch to standing by cherished furbabies as they crossed the rainbow bridge.
They had sadly just lost 2 of their senior fur children to natural causes within the previous few months.
Welcoming Simon into their lives, they could all begin to heal and help fill the holes in their hearts.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako & Here Kitty Kitty NJ
Not only was Simon getting the perfect purrents, he was also getting 3 feline siblings and a gentle giant of a canine sister.
All the animals are rescues they have taken in.
Minky is the 9-year-old black cat with a gorgeous but stern “resting cat face” who runs the home. She was introduced about a year ago, and quickly won the family over.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako
Dexter is their “blonde & beautiful”, 8-year-old Flame Point Siamese.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako
Young Kiki was a former stray discovered on their deck with her kittens last year. A neighbor happily adopted the kittens while Kiki remained at their home.
She is approximately 2 years old and is just now accepting the fact that inside life is a good thing…along with some human love.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako
The last, and certainly the largest, sibling is canine sister Bear. The 5-year-old, 75-pound German Sheppard/Golden Retreiver/Bernese Mountain dog mix has the hilarious desire to be a cat too.
They adopted Bear from a high-kill shelter in Tennessee..without even seeing her first!
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako
Simon and his brand new large family are still in the process of introductions, but Suzanne says things are going great so far.
He has his own room to adjust to his new life on his terms.
If he needs to slowly ease into his wonderful new home, Peter and Suzanne will provide him with whatever he requires.
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako & Here Kitty Kitty NJ
He’s even put some healthy weight back on! Such a great sign of things to come!
So although it took 3 years for Simon to find a family to love him, there’s no way to deny that this is absolutely the best outcome for the sweet boy.
https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.bako/videos/10215374792557057/
Suzanne says she may look into starting an Instagram page for Simon and will let us know.
She knows that their family is extremely lucky to have been chosen for this journey.
We can’t wait to see updates on Simon and the ameowzing life he waited so patiently for. <3
Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Bako ~ well deserved home worth waiting for =)
REMEMBER: ADOPT, DON’T SHOP & SPAY AND NEUTER!
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He has such a sweet face. It’s too bad he had to wait so long for his furever home. In some ways though, it may have been destiny to find the home he has now. So happy he found his perfect furever home and family. Thanks to all.