The moment Everest the cat was unceremoniously dumped at an Atlanta animal shelter, he freaked out.
The little guy had just lost the only home he’d ever known, his home since kittenhood, and the woman who agreed to be his caretaker for life simply ditched him with a curt “I don’t want this cat.”
No sentiment. No apologies. Just annoyance that Everest, a white cat, was apparently shedding too much for her liking.
Shelter employees realized a short time later that the woman had never taken Everest to a veterinarian, had never gotten him shots or had him neutered. Now they’re tasked with rehabilitating a very scared, confused little guy who doesn’t understand why he’s been abandoned.
“We also think he may be deaf but need to conduct tests,” the manager of Furkids Midtown Atlanta Center said in a post on TikTok. “If he is deaf, it’s even more heartbreaking. We don’t think his original owner knew he was deaf, she didn’t seem to care when she surrendered him – she walked in saying, ‘I don’t want this cat.'”
The upside is that the shelter is taking Everest’s health seriously, and they’ll have him neutered and nursed back to health before adopting him out. They’ll also make sure he goes to a home where he gets the love and respect he deserves as a sentient animal with feelings.
Staff at the shelter said they’re determined “to find him the best home. He deserves so much more than the life he’s lived so far.”
“He’s still a little scared,” the shelter manager said. “He is processing what’s happened since now he’s in a shelter where there’s a lot of noises and people.”
This incident, and many others like it, are precisely the reason we need databases listing people who are abusive or negligent to their pets, so they can’t ruin more innocent lives by abandoning cats and dogs when they simply tire of them, or decide they don’t like the fact that they behave precisely the way they’re supposed to as members of their respective species.
It should be done in a way that shelters and rescues in every state can access the database, and contributions should be limited to them as well, with shelters signing their names to the entries. That would prevent people from abusing the list for malicious purposes and ensure that abusive and negligent pet owners can’t simply go to another county or state to evade bans.
Every time I read about a case of cat abuse or an incident like this, I think of Bud and what his life could have been like if he was adopted by someone who didn’t appreciate him. His curiosity, boldness and fire would have been snuffed out, and he would not have been given the love he deserves. Likewise, he would have been deprived of giving back love, and he has a lot to give.
All cats are little buddies, and they all deserve people who love and care for them.
When I ran this by Buddy himself, he agreed.
“That’s right, human,” he said. “Now fetch me a snack!”
Pain In The Bud 
Thank Goddess she didn’t kick him out onto the streets. We are a throw-away society. Animals are viewed as just things to own. Period. I have no doubt that he will get adopted.
To Everest’s new family I say this: “Who you save, saves you as well.”
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That’s why this is ultimately a good thing, because he was not going to have a good life with his original adopter. He’s a beautiful cat and is described as extremely friendly despite his trauma, so someone is going to love him and give him a home he deserves.
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Thankfully you and I, Buddy, got people who actually love us! You have Big Bud and I have Mom and Dad, the tree climber!!!
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As we should! Please give Spunkmeyer a head scratch for me
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And this is why rescue groups i know put in contract that they must do house check after adoption and PROOF of cat being fixed. This reminds me of a white cat i fostered years ago.Snowy. A woman came to see him and was wearing black clothing. She complained about fur on her clothes. Me and rescuer just looked at each other. RED FLAG. That woman was not going to get that cat or any other of our rescues.
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The clothes were probably for some social media nonsense to get attention and internet points. If people are willing to exploit their own kids for internet “celebrity,” they’ll do it to their animals too.
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The rescue group gave me a gift of a coffee cup that says Foster Queen with Snowy on it biting a huge catnip banana. Still have it after 15 years. RIP SNOWY.
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She should have brushed him if she didn’t like the shedding.
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That, and she should have known cats shed.
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It takes a mighty cold person to give up an animal due to fur, without regret. Hopefully the kitty will be better off now.
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Or any reason except when they’re forced to, like going into assisted living. It’s weird when people adopt cats but think somehow they’re going to avoid the things that come with having a cat.
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I have always explained to people if you’re going to adopt think of it as forever, or as long as their forever is. It comes with love & mishaps, craziness & accidents, wellness & sickness & if you’re going to go away you need to have a plan! If your furry kids aren’t going with you, you need a sitter. If they come with, you’re bringing a half a vehicle’s worth of stuff just to bring their environment with you. It’s a lot, but it’s so worth it.
A complaint about a few hairs? Really? Everest deserves everything & her prior owner deserves nothing… Maybe a pet rock? Then again she’d probably say it’s too heavy & it doesn’t match her latest decor… Everest dodged a bullet & now someone is going to have this gorgeous fuzzy person & I’m excited to know that Everest will be in a home filled with love & support & snacks… lots of snacks ♡♡♡
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Whenever I read about someone like that, I want to take the cat in to show them that all people are not evil. I’m glad he’s got good people looking out for him now. (Kommando Kitty, the only cat who ever bonded directly with me, had fur like Everest. It’s so soft that you want to snuggle into it.)
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You’re right, these stories do make the heart go out to these little guys.
Why was Kommando Kitty the only one who bonded with you directly? Do you mean you were his person out of your whole family?
We have a very different dynamic here. We’re like slacker bros who enable each other’s stupidity.
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We always had two cats – one would be closer to my husband and the other to me. We’ve had extremely long-lived cats for the most part. In the first pair, Rascal bonded very closely with my husband. Critter was closer to me, but when my son was a teenager, she switched preference to him. Kommando was always close with me (All Kommando all the time seemed to be her motto.). Unfortunately, my husband died in 2019, so Snoops kinda gravitated toward me. Kommando died last year. Sgt Stripes is technically my son’s cat.
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I’m really sorry to hear about your husband and Kommando, but I’m glad you have your son around and such a beautiful pride of cats. You know I’m partial to the good sergeant and Gipsy, but they’re all beautiful.
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Thank you. Sgt Stripes is a rather popular fellow. And Gypsy is the one cat who seems to really to like him
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My sister-in-law recently rehomed the two cats she’s had for almost ten years because they were ‘stressing her out with their behavior.’
Within the last five or six years she’s bought two dogs, and clearly she’s far more interested in the dogs, while the cats were likely stressed out of their little gourds, which led to the behavior that was stressing her out.
She’s always been somewhat irresponsible with her pets – I could tell many stories.
This was just the latest one.
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I hope those two cats have good homes now. They certainly deserve it. I just saw a story about a poor, depressed and terrified cat hiding in an airport where his human ditched him after failing to bring the proper paperwork to take him on the flight. That cat looked miserable. You can only hope these stories have happy endings.
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