There are countless animals in shelters waiting for someone to adopt them. But some have a harder time than others finding a forever home, because they’re seen as too hard to care for.
This is the story of one cat who was written off as a lost cause—the shelter was ready to give up on him, and he was giving up on life. But miraculously, one couple saved him at the last minute… and saw an incredible change.
BenBen, a ginger cat, had a rough start in life: he was a stray, and life on the streets left him scarred and broken. He had lacerations, a cauliflower ear, and a broken spine that left him unable to walk.
It all left poor BenBen with a permanently sad expression fixed on his face, leading to him being dubbed the “saddest cat on the internet.”
“It appears he was attacked by a large animal,” BenBen’s owners told LoveMeow. “His face permanently looks sad because he has a lot of excess skin on the face, and no one knows why.”
When most people adopt pets, they look for animals that are cute and easy to care for—which put poor BenBen at a disadvantage.
When he did finally get adopted, he was soon sent back to the shelter due to his medical needs. He required pain medication, and vets suspected he would never walk again.
The shelter was ready to give up on him. They deemed him “un-adoptable” and scheduled him to be euthanized. BenBen seemingly gave up, too: he stopped eating and moving, as if just accepting he would be put down.
But at the last minute—the day before he was to be put down—two kindhearted people swept in to give him a second chance at life.
The couple, an ER vet clinic and her boyfriend, heard about BenBen and adopted him.
As he eased in to his new home, BenBen’s whole demeanor changed—a cat who had seemingly given up on life was full of spirit again.
“We sat down with him for about an hour and he was instantly full of purrs, smiles, and ‘thank you’ cuddles,” his owners told LoveMeow.
“He just wanted someone to love him,” the couple wrote on Instagram. “To not give up on him. To show him that everything will be okay.”
And while no one ever thought he’d walk again due to his broken spine, he proved them wrong with a miraculous recovery: he can now walk, run and jump.
“He’s doing so well!” the owners told LoveMeow. “No one who knew him before can believe he’s turned out so awesome.”
Years after adopting him, the couple keeps BenBen’s fans updated on his adventures through his own Instagram account, @benbencatcat.
While he still has a sad look on his face all the time, it’s clear that he’s doing great with his new family.
A little love can go a long way. Thank you to this couple for taking a chance on him when no one else would—it’s clear that there’s a lot of life still in him!
He may be the “saddest cat” but his story makes us smile. Share this heartwarming story!
