'Miracles Do Happen': Cat Adopted Into Home After 16 Years Of Waiting: Huntington Pet

HUNTINGTON, NY — Cassie the cat has found her human after 16 years of waiting.

Cassie and her sister Connie have a very fuzzy background, said Debbie Larkin, president of Grateful Paw Cat Rescue.

"It’s likely they were either born in a colony or were the only babies of a very young, friendly mom," Larkin said. "Many years ago, they were found at the recycling center on New York Avenue in Huntington and brought to the closest animal hospital."

The rescue has no background information on the cats' mother. Grateful Paw received a call from a veterinarian that there were two gray and white kittens that needed help.

"We called one of our experienced bottle baby volunteers to take them in case they were not eating on their own," Larkin said. "As it turns out, they were initially trying to nurse on any cat at the animal hospital, but when presented with solid food, about a week later, they were interested and began chowing down. Cassie, to this day, has a very healthy appetite!"

Cassie and her sister stayed with the foster mom until they were ready to be spayed, and they were then brought directly into the shelter.

They were placed in the kitten room for adoption in October 2007.

There were quite a few kittens at that time, according to Larkin. The pair was not as rambunctious as the others and stayed off to the side by themselves.

"Many people who come into the shelter looking for a kitten are looking for one who has striking colors or stands out among the crowd," Larkin said. "Cassie did not ... she was anxious around the people so she was always overlooked."

Once she "outgrew" the kitten room, the rescue tried placing her and her sister in one of the two adult rooms.

"We had hopes that she would stand out amongst the others, relax and come out of her shell," Larkin said. "Unfortunately, she never really did. Sometimes adopters would come in looking
specifically for a gray, or gray and white, cat and we would eagerly introduce them to Cassie. But she was still shy and would allow very limited petting, so she was always overlooked. Nobody wanted to take the time to get to know her."

Years passed, and Cassie only withdrew even more.

"It got to the point that you couldn’t get near her. It was always stressful for her when the medical team had to perform her yearly wellness check and shots, and heaven forbid we had to take blood (something we do on a yearly basis once they turn 10)," Larkin said.

When a cat or kitten goes to Grateful Paw, they are with the shelter until they are adopted or die of old age, Larkin said.

"That’s why Cassie was still with us until last week. Because we had a few other cats who had the same type of personality, we started our Sponsorship program. For $30 a year you could sponsor any of these cats helping to defray some of the annual expenses incurred keeping them in the shelter. The cats that were extremely difficult to place became 'lifers' at the Grateful Paw."

Cassie has been a part of the program since the start of 2008, Larkin said.

"We all hoped she would eventually find her 'furever' home, but it didn’t look promising," she said.

Fast forward to November 2017.

"We were evicted from the 'old' shelter and had to find foster homes for all of the cats/kittens in the building at that time!" Larkin said. "We were lucky enough to have volunteers who stepped up and offered their homes for these cats because we were not leaving anybody behind. While we all thought it was going to be temporary, it turned out to be almost five years for the foster parents and the cats. That was a very long time."

Cassie went to a home with eight other cats that she already knew having shared a room with them at the shelter.

"Cassie was loved immensely by her foster parents and received as much attention as she would allow," Larkin said. "Some days her foster dad sat with her, pet her and gave her lots of love. Other days Cassie was content to just be with the other cats, but the foster parents never stopped giving her the attention that she needed."

Jump to December 2022. The shelter is reopening and Cassie and the rest of the crew are coming back.

"We were all hoping there would be no setbacks removing them from a home and bringing them into a shelter environment again," Larkin said. "Our worries were unnecessary. All the cats
adjusted very well and began to blossom in the rooms. The quiet, homey feeling of our new shelter allowed them to relax. Cassie was one of the cats who saw people coming and going and decided to venture out from under the bench, or cubbies, and let people know she was there!"

A potential adopter visited about a month ago. She wanted to "rescue" a cat with a sad story who had been there a long time — and Cassie fit that description, Larkin said.

The adopter, Cyndi, went into Cassie's room. The two formed an immediate connection.

She promised she'd return in half an hour, which she said.

"Almost every day, for three solid weeks, she came to visit Cassie," Larkin said.

She would acknowledge the other cats in the room but her main focus was Cassie. There was something about her that kept pulling her back.

"This wonderful person finally told me directly, 'It’s time for Cassie to come home with me; she is ready,'" Larkin recalled. "I made the arrangements for the home inspection to make sure her dog (who has always been raised with cats) would be suitable for Cassie. The inspection was just fine and, after being checked once again by our in-house vet, Cassie went to her FUREVER home on Aug. 9 - 16 long years after she first came to us!"

Cassie is now living with Cyndi and her canine sibling, Gilly.

While Cassie had never been exposed to any dogs, there have been no problems, Larkin said. Her favorite toy is still the laser toy and she will make herself comfortable in any of the various beds placed around her new home. And although she does not have many teeth, she loves her Temptation treats.

"Yes, miracles do happen and every animal chooses their guardian, obviously Cassie was a lot pickier than we thought. Congratulations to all!"