My wife and I got a rescue cat from the shelter....we just had put to sleep a previous cat , "Lilly" who was very sweet...the void she left was pretty tough so we got "Eliot" who is quite opposite from Lilly...who was a white cat...nice to have a companion in the house...
Nokta FoRs Gold, a Gold Cube, 2 Keene Sluices and Lord only knows how many pans....not to mention a load of other gear my wife still doesn't know about!
Eliot falls asleep and sometimes falls off wherever he is sleeping....it's nice to see cats that are so comfortable in their home that they stretch out the way they do
When I retired 6 years ago, I came home with 2 elderly formerly shelter cats, and Mom had one cat - Leroy 16 years old.
One at a time they passed. When Leroy passed Mom was heartbroken. She just sat in her chair crying. At the Farmer's Market I told my friends about that. One of the gals there hooked me up with an animal shelter. They had 3 brothers - kittens. So, I took all 3.
The runt of the group came upstairs to live with me and the other two slept with Mom. They still sleep with Mom 6 years later, and my little buddy sleeps with me.
I completely believe these cats saved Mom's life - though she does need to watch where she steps - you know, cats who love you tend to be under your feet all the time.
My little buddy...
And then there's that wild cougar which lives in the mountains behind me: