They dumped her at the adoption center in the middle of a rainy night, taped up in a box and shoved under the bumper of a van… the last detail to be taken care of by people with no desire to take on a spoiled cat after the death of her elderly human.

PHOTO: Jenny Dahl

She spent the next two weeks in a cage suffering the indignities of physicals, unwelcome handling, and the frightening sounds and smells of a building being remodeled around her. She wasn’t at her best, and didn’t understand she needed to be if she was going to find a new home.

As the days passed, her temperament grew worse. It became apparent she wasn’t doing well – and would continue to decline.

The sad reality of animal rescue is that there isn’t room for one who isn’t at all trying to cooperate. She was moved from the cage to a carrier and put back in the same van she had been shoved under several weeks before… on the way to being put down.

Enter my husband and me, in the very nick of time. We had just buried our Gypsy – another rescue – and had room for another furchild. We lean toward hard cases… older, abandoned, special needs… unwanted rejects without hope.

It wasn’t a match made in heaven. Nana wasn’t any happier with us than she had been at the rescue. It took nine months to convince her she was home to stay.

PHOTO: Pexels

She now sleeps with us – and anywhere else she pleases. She comes to me at least once a day for combing and loving.

Home, again, at last.

So be patient. Be open to the ones who aren’t perfect. You never know when the perfect one might be hiding inside – like Nana.

Story submitted by Jenny Dahl of Oklahoma City, OK

Gypsy's story was originally shared on theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com. Share your very own rescue story here!