posted October 05, 2012 01:15 PM            

When Autumn Giles and her boyfriend visited the ASPCA Adoption Center in New York City in search of a feline friend, they found a perfect match in a beautiful gray kitty named Christopher. They soon renamed him Butternut. Giles shared the following story with us:

My boyfriend and I had been talking about getting a cat for a while, and it finally felt like the right time! Getting a cat via adoption was really the only option. As the woman who showed us around the Adoption Center observed, Christopher chose us!

Going into it, I thought I wanted to adopt a fluffy cat because I had very fond memories of a long-haired cat that I had as a kid. Christopher is not super-fluffy, but when we met him we knew almost right away that he was ours—and he was immediately so affectionate! He gave us head butts and licks within seconds of meeting us.

After bringing him home, we discovered Christopher had an allergic reaction to something in his food. The folks at the ASPCA were very helpful in getting him well again. In a strange way, having this experience with Christopher made me feel like he was even more of a match for our home because I can't eat gluten and am lactose intolerant, so he and I have special diets in common.

He's doing much better and getting increasingly comfortable in our apartment. I love waking up in the middle of the night to find him in the windowsill. I know he's just a cat, but it feels like he's watching out for us! We can't get over how much love he has to give. Even when he wasn't feeling well, he's was still so affectionate. We're so happy he's in our lives.

To read more happy endings, check out our Happy Tails archive.