If it’s true that matches are made in heaven, this one comes pretty close. It’s a heartwarming story with a very lovely happy ending. It stars 19-year-old Gus, a sweet black and white cat who’s 133 years old in human years. He’d been brought to a shelter in Hickory, North Carolina because his owner couldn’t keep him due to “unforeseen work commitments,” Southern Living reports.
Fortunately, his stay at the Humane Society of Catawba County (HSCC) was a short-lived one, thanks to the other star of this story: another centenarian (in human form) named Penny, who happens to be 101-years-old.
Penny with Gus: Images via Facebook
Gus Was The Oldest Kitty At The Shelter
He arrived in the middle of September, and that left Jane Bower, HSCC’s executive director worried about his situation.
“Obviously we would take good care of Gus, but living in a shelter is not ideal, especially at his age,” she tells Newsweek.
The one bit of good mews here is that when HSCC staff examined Gus, he was in excellent shape.
“We took Gus in and proceeded to do a health check and found that for 19 years young, Gus was in exceptional health,” Bower said.
Fortunately for Gus, Penny’s family came in looking for an elderly cat.
“The adopter’s family contacted us asking to adopt a senior cat for their mother,” Bower says. “She had recently lost her cat and although they had given her a stuffed cat, she wasn’t happy because it didn’t purr.”
If you love cats, especially all the cute noises they make, you know a stuffed one isn’t going to cut it. Sure it might be soft but it won’t beg for chin scratches and headbutt you as a real live cat will do.
Bower had a few concerns initially but fortunately, this turned out to be a win-win situation.
“We were cautious because of the age of all parties but the family said they were willing to care for the cat on behalf of their mother,” she adds.
Senior Citizen And Senior Kitty Hit It Off
Bower describes Gus’s adoption as a “match made in heaven,” and he’s adjusted to his new home quite well. “He has made himself at home and eating like a horse,” she says.
Stories like this are uplifting. Unlike some shelters, HSCC refused to give up on sweet Gus simply due to his age.
“As a shelter in the South of the USA, we are constantly full of companion animals,” Bower says. “Gus’s age was exceptional but we regularly do see older pets. We still advocate for these animals and work to find them a new home, regardless of their age.”
Don’t you love stories like this? Gus is an exceptional senior kitty who wound up with a sweet woman who’s more than happy to love him. Seems like the world needs more stories like this.
