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In November 2012, the day before Thanksgiving, we had to put our cat, Tosca, to sleep. Her lungs and body were filled with fluid. It was a total shock because she had only shown symptoms the day before we took her to the vet. The diagnosis was grim, and any of the three possibilities were terminal.

So on Thanksgiving Eve, we said goodbye to our Tosca.

As we left the vet’s office, my husband, Rusty, noticed a cage in the waiting room with kittens that were up for adoption. I was so filled with grief that I couldn’t even look at them. Rusty and I had previously talked about waiting a while before getting another cat, but we never anticipated how sudden and shocking Tosca’s death would be.

Thanksgiving Day felt surreal, though I was grateful to be surrounded by family. Rusty reminded me about the kittens he saw in the waiting room, and I reminded him that we had planned to wait before adopting another cat. Still, he knew me well enough to suspect I wouldn’t wait long and suggested I call the vet.

Our vet would take in a certain number of stray animals each week to be adopted out. On Black Friday, I called to ask about the kittens Rusty had seen. They had already been adopted, but the vet told me that two more kittens would be arriving later that day.

They were a gray male and an orange female who had been abandoned in a Lowe’s parking lot.

I went to the vet to meet them. The moment I saw the gray male kitten, we bonded immediately, and I brought him home. Other than having a cold and being a little skittish, he was remarkably healthy.

My husband and I were happy to welcome this new addition to our family, but it took us a few days to come up with the right name.

Then it came to me.

He was an orphan, just like Oliver Twist, and now our home would be Oliver’s forever home. He’s still a bit skittish, and he hates to see us leave each day, but we know he’s content.

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Story submitted by Jessica from Harrisburg, PA.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!