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  • After Losing His Wife, Elderly Man Adopts a Cat to Combat Loneliness

After Losing His Wife, Elderly Man Adopts a Cat to Combat Loneliness

Posted in Cat Videos - On: June 30, 2023 - Author:  Jan Travell
Posted in Cat Videos 
Last Updated: June 30, 2023  
Author:  Jan Travell

An elderly man has warmed the hearts of people across the internet because on the same day as his wife's funeral, he headed to his local pet store to adopt a homeless cat for company. 

90-year-old Gary Pitel was married to his wife Joan, 86, for 59 years. But after she passed away himself and his family were worried that he would be lonely. 

This lifelong couple had gone everywhere and did everything together.

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At the luncheon after Jean's funeral he announced he would like to get a cat as soon as possible. 

So along with his family he headed to a local pet store to adopt a cat.

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On arriving at their local PetSmart, a white cat named Evita immediately caught his eye.

But after finding a kitty that Gary thought would make the perfect companion, he had to go through the adoption checks.  

His family were worried and told him not to get his hopes up because he may not be approved.

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But they had nothing to worry about because just a day later he was approved, this meant Gary could properly say hello to his new companion.

An emotional Gary immediately named her Joansie which was his late wife’s nickname.

But he eventually settled on the name Eva and the two have since built an inseparable friendship.

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Two year old Eva loves Gary very much, she follows him around his house and sleeps on the end of his bed every night.

Gary's granddaughter Madison recorded his search, she then pieced together the clips and shared them on social media:

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About the author

Jan Travell is a lifelong cat owner and a feline expert. She's been the Cats and Kittens lead editor from the start. She lives in rural France with her two rescue cats, Tigerlily and Mr.Gee. Her senior kitty, Ducati, passed over the rainbow bridge recently at the ripe old age of 22.

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