Woman Adopts Shelter Cat, Then Goes Back For His Old Friend

It may be impossible to rewrite the sad pasts of animals who, by no fault of their own, wound up in the cold kennels of an animal shelter - but their futures can change in an instant.

When two senior cats, 11-year-old Mojo and 16-year-old Max, were dropped off with Anne Arundel County Animal Control, in Maryland, their long lives together nearly came to an end. In accordance with the shelter's policy, the cats were kept in separate cages, each one hoping to defy the odds stacked against them as older pets in need of a new home.

Facebook/Friends of Anne Arundel County Animal Control, Inc.

Facebook/Friends of Anne Arundel County Animal Control, Inc.

Last month, that all changed - for Mojo, anyway. A woman who was looking for a cat adopted him, leaving Max behind. But the weight of keeping her new feline apart from his old friend became too much to bear. That's when something beautiful happened:

She came back.

"Mojo has been a wonderful pet, she said, but she couldn't get Max out of her mind," Chris, a shelter volunteer, wrote on Facebook. "'The idea of him living out his life in a cage just broke my heart,' she said. So, yup, she was back today to adopt Max and reunite the two friends. Have great lives together, Max and Mojo!"

Facebook/Friends of Anne Arundel County Animal Control, Inc.

Facebook/Friends of Anne Arundel County Animal Control, Inc.

Sadly, things don't always end so well for older animals like Mojo and Max - many of whom never wind up finding the love of a family again in their Golden years. Fortunately, there are folks out there who understand that homeless senior pets need more of a lifeline than their younger counterparts.

"Thanks to the very big hearts of the people who come there to adopt, they find new homes," Chris told The Dodo. "We have one gentleman, in fact, whose only adoption requirement is that the dog he gets is the oldest one at the shelter. He's done this twice that I am aware of. We just had a young couple adopt a 17-year-old dog. You see the best and the worst of human behavior at a public animal shelter; we see much more good than bad, however."

To learn about adopting a senior pet, visit your local animal shelter.