If you need a reminder to never lose hope, Jesse and Sadie are it.

Both at the Connecticut Humane Society’s Waterford location for months and months. A few medical conditions each. And challenging when it came to finding their ideal homes.

The felines didn’t arrive together, but their stays overlapped and you couldn’t help but notice the similarities in their journeys…and of course cheer them on along the way!

Sadie arrived way back in April after her person passed away and she had nowhere to go. Some of her fur was missing because she was pulling it out, her eyes were infected, her ears were itchy, and her stomach was not happy. The tortie was missing her human, wondering how life had suddenly become so hard and unpredictable.

But she wouldn’t face the future alone. A foster volunteer took her in to give her the affection she missed from her human and the comforts of home she was used to. CHS’ staff veterinary department tried prescription diets and got to the bottom of her infections and skin and stomach problems (are allergies the bane of your existence, too?). Along the way, the medical team also discovered she had a chronic stuffy nose and a heart murmur when she was stressed. Her notes go on and on.

Meanwhile in July, 5-year-old Jesse landed at CHS and put on a tough guy act. He hid and hissed and swatted. What immediately softened him? A cushy bed! “He has this puffy bed that he LOVES to lay in and knead on! When I enter the room, he either wakes up and looks at me, or chirps and comes running to me,” one of his CHS pals wrote.

Jesse’s veterinary record was almost as long as Sadie’s: bleeding in his mouth near rotten teeth, bathroom problems, an unusual mass in his abdomen, his own heart murmur, and an unkempt coat.

Dental surgery fixed up his mouth, and it turns out the mass was his kidney! It was small and in an unusual spot, likely something he was born with. His kidneys were functioning fine, but he could get kidney disease down the road.

Sadie and Jesse each have quite the story, right? Days passed after they went on CHS’ website for adoption. Then weeks, months. They were happy and cuddling with their human pals, but needed homes of their very own.

Just when you thought Sadie would be here for her one-year anniversary, or that Jesse would follow in her, uh, paw prints, the right adopters came along for each of them—in February within two weeks of each other!

Jesse’s new person has experience with kitties with medical conditions, and Sadie’s new humans have already sent an update!

“Sadie was a bit cautious for the first two days, but since then, she has been following us all around the house, purring a lot, and seeking out as many opportunities to cuddle as she can muster. She even comes running to us when we call her name now. She seems really happy–we love having her as part of our family, and she’s definitely quite a cuddler!”