Sarah, whom I’ve had since she was 5 days old, was finally adopted just weeks before turning 1.

I feel like PetFinder is such an essential tool for animal rescue. Many groups use the website, but there are some who don’t, perhaps due to lack of time to document the animals, lack of proper cameras to do so, quick turnaround of animals, what have you. Some who do use the website, might not take enough advantage of it.

For instance, having a pet biography and as much detail as possible is great for someone who is browsing online, and still hesitant about actually coming to visit a cat in person. If a group posts a cat, but leaves no detail, it might not be enough to push a person to really take a step further in the process, especially if another group has described their animals better than your group has.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that Petfinder was crucial to having Sarah adopted. She didn’t show well at adoption events; she would hiss when she’d had enough. When she got scared, she hid in her litterbox with ears down. Sure, she’s a beautiful cat, but it was hard to convince people of how playful and affectionate she was, when she looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but there.

Sarah’s adopter contacted me via Petfinder, stating that she had a cat already and wanted a companion for that cat. She’d read about Sarah’s personality online, and thought she was pretty, and decided to inquire how to meet her. I explained how Sarah’s personality didn’t quite show at adoption events, and hoped that she’d take our word for it that all of those great traits I wrote in her PetFinder bio were in fact true.

When Sarah’s adopter came for her at the store, us volunteers kept our fingers crossed that Sarah wouldn’t ruin her opportunity. She allowed being pet, but there wasn’t going to be any holding her happening. While the adopter shopped around for goodies, Sarah screamed bloody murder as we gave her a final nail trim.

Imagine my relief when I sent a follow-up email to Sarah’s adopter, and found out that Sarah had transitioned into her new home just as I knew she could:

“She and Gigi are still hissing at each other but I think they secretly like each other because when I’m asleep they sleep nearby. In summation Sarah is a joy and I can’t see how no one adopted her sooner! “

The pictures in this post were sent to me by her adopter. I’m happy when all of my fosters are adopted, but with so much time spent watching this girl grow up, I felt especially happy!