Overlooked cats spent 1,000 days in shelter. Now they get a fresh start in NC
Two overlooked cats spent years at a shelter — then came good news.
After waiting more than 1,000 days for new homes, Pip and Ivan have been adopted together in North Carolina.
“Our staff will certainly miss (Pip) and Ivan,” Jodi Henkel, assistant shelter manager for the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society, told McClatchy News in an April 29 email. “But we are over the moon excited for them as we know they are going to have a wonderful loving home and that is our greatest wish for all of our shelter pets!”
The “sweet” cats are getting a fresh start after they became two of the shelter’s longest residents, the humane society wrote in Facebook posts.
Pip’s journey toward adoption started about four years ago, when he was found as a stray in the mountain town of Franklin. After his rescue in July 2021, the shelter hoped the “timid” cat would find a home with a patient owner and a feline companion.
Meanwhile, Ivan was a kitten when he was abandoned outside the shelter in July 2020. Though his sibling Frances has since been adopted, his shy sister Katrina still needs a home nearly five years later, according to the shelter’s website and previous McClatchy News reporting.
Ivan also was timid, often being passed over in the shelter’s “cageless playrooms in favor of the more extroverted kitties who run to greet visitors the moment they walk in the door,” the animal organization wrote.
The amount of time cats typically spend in the shelter ranges from “a few days to several years.” As the years passed, the shelter believed Pip and Ivan were overlooked due to their black fur and shyness. Potential adopters tend to prefer cats with other fur patterns and more outgoing personalities, according to Henkel.
“Both were reserved when meeting new people as shelter life is mostly what they had known both coming to us at a young age,” Henkel wrote.
Then, after Pip and Ivan spent years waiting, the shelter shared a heartwarming update April 27 on Facebook. The cats were adopted into the same home, to the delight of several people who commented on the social media post.
“These two awesome felines met the world’s greatest cat dad and they now have a loving forever home together,” the shelter wrote.
The humane society is in the Sapphire area, a roughly 55-mile drive southwest from Asheville.
This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Overlooked cats spent 1,000 days in shelter. Now they get a fresh start in NC."
