Cat's Dying Owner Writes Thank-You Letter to Whoever Takes 'Susie'

A seemingly ordinary orange cat named Susie – quiet, standoffish with the household dog, not much of an outdoor kitty -- has captured the hearts of animal lovers across the country.

And it’s all thanks to the efforts of the workers at the Montgomery County Animal Services & Adoption Center.

When Susie’s frail owner died in May, her son couldn’t take the nearly 5-year-old cat. So, he brought Susie to the shelter for placement with a new family. But Susie came with a memoir of sorts, a handwritten note by the cat’s previous owner – whom shelter staffers aren’t identifying – that described how they came to be roommates at first, then best of friends.

»Read the full text of the letter from Susie’s dying owner here.

The ailing owner had told her son to give the letter to Susie’s next owner.

“I knew I had never seen a letter like this before, but I didn’t realize people would react to it the way they did,” Katherine Zenzano, community outreach coordinator of Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center, told Patch. “I felt like I could hear her voice, I could hear her talking about Susie. We thought it was a sweet, but bittersweet, story. We wanted to get Susie a home.”

Finding the tabby’s forever home took longer than animal workers had expected. The shy but friendly cat hadn’t dazzled people coming through the center aiming to adopt.

After a couple of months, Zenzano posted the letter from Susie’s late owner on the facility’s Facebook page.

“I enjoy her company. She is a good snuggler, but she likes to be the boss,” the dying woman wrote. “She enjoys being petted. She spends much of her time on my bed, but always seems to know where I am.
And the note ends: “I hope you enjoy Susie as much as I have.”

Once The Huffington Post wrote about the dying owner’s letter in late July, people from around the country began asking whether Susie had a new home.

The care of the woman toward her cat struck a chord with pet owners everywhere after stories appeared on Good Housekeeping magazine and ABC News, among others.

Susie, shy and not warming up to strangers at the animal shelter, needed the PR boost.

Susie’s saga comes with a happy ending: she was adopted on Aug. 7 by a College Park woman who reports Susie is settling in to life at her new house, with another cat as a buddy.

“The adopter kept reading Susie’s story online and kept reading it and re-reading it,” Zenzano said. “She just somehow knew this cat needed her and she needed that cat. It was kind of meant to be.”

Purr-fect.

»Photos of Susie the cat, and former owner’s letter, courtesy of Montgomery County Animal Services & Adoption Center via Facebook