I want to share my adoption success story of my cat Deana, originally named Sunshine, who my parents adopted for me in the fall of 2001 when I was seven years old. They had promised me a cat when I started first grade, so we went to the shelter (at that time NEAS was still in the old building) to pick one out. There were lots of friendly cats, but as soon as I saw this little calico cat I decided that she was the cat for me, even though she completely ignored me and hissed when I tried to pet her.
She had been found as a pregnant stray and taken in to have her babies, and she was still adjusting to life with people. After we adopted her, it took her months to trust us – it was weeks before she would come out from behind our couch. But I always believed in her. As an only child, she became like the furry little sister I never had, and we now love each other dearly.
I left for college this fall and my parents moved with Deana from Massachusetts to Austin, Texas, and to our surprise, instead of hiding and being anxious at the move, she was excited and embraced it! Now she has a big house and yard all to herself in Austin, and if it hadn’t been for NEAS we never would have been able to give her a great life with us, and have her as such an important addition to our family. She is around 14 now. It makes me very happy that NEAS is still around, helping people and animals connect like you helped me and my cat.
