'It happened within hours': Pawrent adopts scared shelter cat who may never open up to others, she instantly starts following her mom around like a sweet shadow

Author image for Blake Seidel
Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Feb 10, 2025 11:00 AM EST

How many times have you walked past that scared cat in the shelter? The one that hisses at you, or hides when you walk by? They've probably been walked by a lot. It's a sad fate to be a shelter cat (we would also hiss at people if we were forced to live in a cage all day every day), but luckily, the cat community always finds a way to come to their rescue. It's all thanks to those wholesome heroes who adopt the scared cats, the "aggressive ones," the ones that no one else wants. But you know what? They just need a home to feel safe and some love.

One such cat was adopted by a pawrent in this heartwarming story. Both the shelter and the person understood that this cat would need a lot of time to open up, if they ever gave them that chance at all. And then, the most beautiful thing happened. Within hours, the cat immediately laid on her belly and started purring. Scroll down to see how this pawrent and child bonded below!

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  • 01

    I adopted a very shy cat today who mostly hid at the shelter.

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  • 02

    Both the staff and I agreed that she'd probably need a lot of time to feel safe and start being social.

    . • c4637291 OP 10h ago · Edited 9h ago This girl is an absolute sweetheart. I almost missed out on her at the shelter because she hid inside her little bed the entire time, but when I finally noticed her and said hello, everything just felt "right". Somehow it felt like we had a connection just in those few minutes when she carefully greeted me, and it seems like that feeling was correct.
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  • 03
    The staff said that she would be a wonderful little companion if given time to come out of her shell. I agreed, but I don't think either of us thought it'd happen within hours. I prepared so many hiding spots for her in case she wanted to hide away for the first few days or even weeks, but she barely leaves my side. She just wants cuddles and can't stop making biscuits.
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  • Sometimes, it just works. That was not the case with us and our first cat, though. She was a very scared shelter cat. She continued to be nervous, and even as she grew to trust and love us, she still remained a little nervous baby. It's okay, we're doing the best we can to let her live as full a life as it can pawssibly be. 

  • 04
    I lost my old cat last year and though I still love and miss her so much my heart aches, I'm grateful I get to pour my love into a new friend too. My old lady lived on the streets before she came to me, and I'd like to think she'd have wanted me to open my home to another little one in need.
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  • 05
    slifm • 9h ago My kitty is at 25 straight hours under the bed. I wish I had your success!
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  • 06
    dbtl87 10h ago • She came home and said
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  • 07
    Altruistic_Rub_7662 · 10h ago . Sometimes it's just the shelter environment that makes a cat shy and scared, and once you get them out, they show their true self. Thank you for giving this sweet girl a chance!
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  • 08
    Neonlikebjork • 9h ago
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  • 09
    My baby hid in his enclosure when we were looking. He's the gentlest giant we needed after our soul cat passed. He knows he's a looker.
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  • Our second cat, however, was not that way. She was as happy as a clam when we saw her in the shelter, and as soon as she smiled at us, we knew we had to take her home. She got even happier once she realized that tuna was on the menu every week!

  • 10
    puzzlemaster_of_time • 7h ago Sophie was my Great Aunt's cat. Basically home alone for a year as my Great Aunt was in and out of hospitals and nursing homes. My Aunt and cousin would go over to feed her, but she'd hide the whole time.
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  • 11
    Once we found out that Great Aunt would be staying in the nursing home permanently, my aunt and cousin took Sophie in. Again a couple months of just hiding from them and the two cats and two ewok dogs they had.
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  • 12
    Finally they ask me to take her in. I prepared a cozy hiding spot under the bed. Wouldn't need it. I opened the carrier, she looked around and flopped over as if to say "Yeah, this is my house now" I've had for seven years at this point.
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  • 13
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  • 14
    . Henri_de_LaMonde • 9h ago Good on you for adopting the one most people would walk by. The shelter I volunteer at has a cat like that, Emme. Seems she likes me as after a few pets while inside her little cubby hole, she's next to me rolling on the floor wanting belly rubs. I wish I could adopt, or even foster, her. But I don't know how she'd do with my other two.
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  • 15
    Dazzling-Ad6085 9h ago I'm crying at this. Our little guys chose my husband and my boy was so shy. We got him when he was 8 weeks old. Sadly we lost him last month at 17 and a half. He stopped being shy when he was about 10
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  • 16
    • Rockergage 7h ago I got my first cat that was 100% mine this year as a nice little 4 year old from the shelter, conventional wisdom was like, "yeah they're going to be pretty freaked out being in a new place you should set aside an area that is just for them and hopefully they'll learn to trust you." Set her down in my apartment let her loose and she just loved it, crawled up in the bed with me at night and climbed on my chest. Sweet Louise.
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  • 17
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  • 18
    StarChaserRansom • . 7h ago
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  • 19
    Binx was so skittish at the shelter. But when I picked him up he clung to me and I turned to my mother and said "they're never having him back" He's almost 5 now and still runs over and lets me pick him up and hold him like my little baby for a little while.
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  • 20
    bbpathfinder • 9h ago The shelter named our cat Hermit,cause he was always hiding in a corner. Within 3 days of being home with us he became my Shadow, following me wherever I went and now sleeps on the couch or bed next to me. And he did get the new name too!
    via u/bbpathfinder
  • 21
    Find_My_Footing • 7h ago This warms my heart! Our little guy came to us via a coworker who needed to re-home him due to the cat allergy of a family member they were moving in with. When we went to meet him, he hid the whole time, but they had warned us he had an anxious disposition and took a long time to warm up to people. All of the
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  • 22
    nuts and bolts lined up, so we decided to take him home. They were relieved they had hit the point - where they were about to have to take him to a shelter, and now that I know the cat, I think that would've been very traumatic for him. He took months to fully warm up to us, but now a year in, he's very cuddly and playful, and super attached to us.
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  • 23
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  • 24
    Silent_Ideal7678 · 9h ago . So glad you adopted each other. Such a good looking tux. Enjoy, cats have a 6th sense for sure. Give her a name now and she loves life and you already. H
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animals shelter adoption animal rescue scared adopted feline cat rescue shelter cat forever home Cats loving animals rescue
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