A shelter cat's fairy tale ending
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00:00 His owner very suddenly passed away.
00:02 "Hi!"
00:02 He was thought to be 18 years old.
00:04 Very ill.
00:05 There was no interest in anyone adopting him as a hospice case.
00:09 It was me or nobody at that point.
00:11 "Hi handsome."
00:12 I'm Sarah.
00:13 This is Elliot's story for GOP's.
00:15 In August 2021, he wound up at the shelter.
00:18 No one really thought he was going to survive too long.
00:21 It was very difficult, as you can imagine, to really convince anyone to take this cat home, right?
00:27 He's on IV fluids.
00:28 He's on medication.
00:29 He's on a special diet.
00:30 He might not live more than a month or two.
00:33 "Gimme that. Come on."
00:36 He looked really, really skinny and sad.
00:38 He lost hope and I was so upset by that.
00:42 I had three cats already, all with special needs or seniors,
00:45 and I couldn't even imagine taking on another one.
00:48 But I remember at my job at the time of my lunch break, just bursting, breaking down into tears,
00:53 just thinking about him all the time and how no one was going to step up for him.
00:57 And I said, "I don't want him alone in a cage."
00:59 "Guess what? You're going home tomorrow."
01:02 The day we brought Elliot home, he was just the sweetest.
01:06 You couldn't not love him.
01:09 I brought him over by the window.
01:11 He just lit up that sparkle in his eye.
01:13 Gave me a little bit of hope.
01:14 I thought to myself, "This guy is not ready to go."
01:17 He was so excited to be roaming free again.
01:21 He had all these toys.
01:26 He picked up one of the springs, grabbed it,
01:29 like a mouse, and dropped it in the water bowl.
01:31 She put it in the water bowl?
01:32 He loved cats.
01:34 You'd think, "Oh, the older cats have a hard time adjusting."
01:37 Not him.
01:37 He acted like he'd been there the entire time.
01:40 It was just night and day difference between the sad cat and the shelter cage.
01:51 And it was euphoric for me in our house.
01:57 I would call Elliot the most perfect gentleman.
01:59 He would lick your face the most gentle way possible.
02:02 He had a very soft purr, also.
02:04 Everything about him was just so soft.
02:11 "Look, buddy. Love you, Elliot."
02:13 None of the other cats picked on him, ever.
02:15 They knew there was something about him.
02:17 He was not a troublemaker.
02:18 He loved cuddling with Polly, our other senior cat.
02:23 She brought him so much comfort.
02:26 He was very human-like in my mind.
02:28 It seemed like he understood things.
02:30 He was so expressive in his eyes.
02:40 He looked at me like, "I love you so much."
02:42 We thought he would have two months with us,
02:45 but we actually made his two-year gotcha day.
02:47 We really do think that he hung on because he wanted his party.
02:55 As he declined, we asked our friends to tell us the names of their angels
02:59 over the Rainbow Bridge.
03:01 And I read Elliot all the names of the friends
03:03 that he was going to make over there.
03:05 Every day we had with him was a celebration of him.
03:10 He was a miracle, proof that cats have nine lives.
03:14 I would tell him thank you for two beautiful years that we had together.
03:18 Our house feels emptier without him here.
03:21 But he also was the missing puzzle piece that we never knew we needed.
03:25 I'll always be his mom.
03:27 [Music]