Too many animals end up neglected or in abusive hands of people who were supposed to love them. Deprived of human affection and care, they often lose hope for what the future holds. And while for some, there’s not much in there, a few lucky ones are given a second chance in their new forever home.

If you’ve ever adopted an animal who has seen and experienced things no living being should ever endure, you’d know how hard it is for them to regain their trust in humans. But love and time are the two most powerful things that heal all wounds, and this post is a tribute to that.

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Below are some of the most inspirational and emotional photos of cats before and after adoption as shared on the tear-jerking r/BeforeNAfterAdoption subreddit. More happy endings of animals who were happily adopted can be found in our previous posts here, here and here.

#1 Found Him Dehydrated In The High Summer Heat. Didn’t Plan On Keeping Him Initially But A Few Years Later And I Can Never Leave Him!

Image credits: incyk

#2 Hazel Was A Stray Who Was Rescued After Being Caught In A Steel Trap For An Estimated 5 Days. She Lost Her Leg But Found Her Home With Me! This Is 8 Weeks After Coming Home

Image credits: amkaewes

#3 From Scrawny Stray, To Lovely House Kitty

Image credits: bmeridian

#4 This Poor 10 Y/O Little Man Took A Year To Go From Brutalized To Healthy And Active

Image credits: Vealophile

#5 The Day I Found Them Abandoned In A Cardboard Box, 1 Month, 2 Months And Likely Half Their Body Weight Of Worms Later

Image credits: Dodoritos

#6 This Guy Showed Up On Our Porch One Day. He Was Emaciated, Dirty Brown Fur, Covered With Ants, Cross Eyed And Barely Alive. The Humane Society Wouldn’t Take Him Because He Was In Such Bad Shape. So We Kept Him And Named Him Knut. He Turned Into A Fluffy White Monster

Image credits: knut22

#7 To Think That Luna Used To Fit In The Palm Of My Hand

Image credits: EmiGawd

#8 Cicero Came To Us Dehydrated, Anemic, And Encrusted With Snot. Now He’s A Glorious Fluffy Boy!

Image credits: Gingerdressing

#9 My Baby Boy, Tom. The Day I Found Him And Now, 18 Months Later. He’s Grown Into A Very Handsome Boy!

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Image credits: niamhish

#10 Oreo Almost 2 Years Ago vs. Today (Adopted Nov 2019). He Was Living On The Streets With A Severe Eye Infection. The Lady That Was Fostering Him Said She Didn’t Think He Would Survive Winter Had He Not Been Rescued. He’s The Sweetest Baby And I Can’t Imagine My Life Without Him Anymore

Image credits: howcomeineedusername

#11 Befor & After

Image credits: rezvankm

#12 Parker, The Sickly Stray 5 Week Old Kitten I Found In A Parking Lot At Work Three Years Ago

Image credits: nottodaykitten

#13 How It Started vs. How It’s Going

Image credits: tryintobecalm

#14 Just Two Weeks Ago, I Adopted This Tiny 5-Week Old Who Was Rescued From A Busy Wet Market In Manila. She’s Now The Cuddliest In The Family

Image credits: joothie

#15 Our Maine Coon Kitten Hemingway’s Shelter Picture Compared To One Week After Bringing Him Home

Image credits: reddit.com

#16 My Rescue’s Transformation

Image credits: hour-indication

#17 10 Months Ago I Found This Little Guy Abandoned And Starving, Now He’s A Pampered Little Prince

Image credits: NeverTheRani

#18 My Dumpster Rescue Ophelia At 4 Weeks Old And 4 Months Old With Her New Best Friend

Image credits: Kimberlybroooke0

#19 Bean Dip. Found By My Girlfriend Under A Pile Of Trash In A Construction Site. We Nursed Her Back To Health And She Now Lives With A Family Member. First Three Photos Are From July Of This Year, Last Photo Is From Two Weeks Ago. Best Thing To Happen To Me In 2020

Image credits: st-ove

#20 Stray That Started Coming By Our Library Staff Parking Lot Got Taken To The Shelter, Now He’s Properly Adopted And Enjoys Belly Rubs (Might Be A Dog Under Cover), Anyway Here’s My New Son, Taako

Image credits: WhaleChief

#21 I Trapped Sushi When He Was 17 Weeks Old With An Infected Neck Wound. 8 Months Later, Love And Patience Have Turned My Former Feral Into A Cuddle-Loving Cat

Image credits: kittyandmarley

#22 I Found This Kitten Last Summer In A Sealed Box Near The Road We Rode. I Don’t Know Why I Decied To Stop And Check It. Now He Is A Big Cat And Lives In This New Family With His New Friend

Image credits: catrescueeveryday

#23 I Fostered Socks And His 4 Siblings Over The Summer – Couldn’t Let Socks Go! He’s Changed So Much Over The Last Several Months!

Image credits: hrtofdixie

#24 What Love And Tons Of Churu Can Do To A Street-Hardened Cat

Image credits: tryintobecalm

#25 After My Cat Died I Decided To Pick Up This Small Guy Who Looked Healthy When We Got Him, But We Soon Learned He Had A Horrible Ringworm Infestation. I Spent The Next 4 Months Healing This Little Guy

Image credits: ilDosh

#26 Helen Was Found At 5 Weeks Old, Underweight, Flea-Ridden And Full Of Parasites. She’s Now 4 Months Old, And Ready For Adoption!

Image credits: RafiDennisAdrianDerk

#27 A Week After We Rescued This Little Girl. We Have Named Her Shamsie (Sounds Like Tummy)- Arabic For Sunshine

Image credits: lauragarlic

#28 Titan, Adopted Through Our Rescue Good Karma. He’s Spoilt!

Image credits: gkpetrescue

#29 This Is Peanut! I Found Him Caught In A Rat Trap And Knew He Had To Have A Second Chance

I was working in a restaurant when a few of my coworkers were talking about a kitten stuck in one of the rat traps outside. Everyone, including me, thought he had been dead for quite some time. Out of curiosity, I nudged his little feet and he kicked his paws!

It took a few minutes to wiggle him free, and when he opened his mouth to meow at me, his tongue was absolutely covered in rat poison.

I rushed him to our local vet, and thankfully there was an easy solution to his poisoning! My roommate and I paid out of pocket to cover his bill and took him home to rest and recover. Even though he had been through a lot, he wasn’t shy. He crawled into my lap wanting to be petted and held. He meowed and ate without hesitation. I took that as a good sign that he would be just fine. He seemed like he would make the perfect pet for anyone who adores cats.

Sadly, we couldn’t keep him. We have three dogs and not enough room for another animal. But in only just a few days, we found Peanut a new home with a very loving couple and their cat!

Now he has blossomed into a gorgeous kitty who loves attention and his parents! Every now and then, we get updates on the little guy and last I’ve heard, he’s now a dad! I’m so thankful they were able to take him in. I know they’re giving him the best life possible:)

For everyone concerned about Peanut, his litter was unintentional but it was a happy accident to his parents. They kept one and the rest found sweet homes. All animals in the house are now fixed! Thank you for being concerned! And thank you all for getting your fur babies spayed/ neutered!

Image credits: sharkslyr

#30 Just A Couple Of Foster Fails. So Glad We Kept Them Together!

Image credits: embarrassedofyou

#31 From A Little Baby With A Respiratory Infection And Full Of Worms To The Biggest Sweetheart. Tobin Only Has Good Things In His Future From Here On Out

Image credits: misssinformation

#32 These 2 Just Turned 3 Years Old. They’ve Been Inseparable Since The Day I Found Them

Image credits: GoFundMeow

#33 This Dirty But Charismatic Boy Started Hanging Around Outside Our House In The Spring Of 2017. We Gave Him Food And Shelter, And He Found His Place In Our Hearts And In Our Beds

Image credits: MentoIsAFurry

#34 When I Got Her She Had Eye Infections, Constant Stomach Issues, And Was Lethargic. 2 Months Later She’s Healthy And Energetic Enough To Terrorize Me Every Day

Image credits: flowerbich

#35 One Month Of Penny, My Foster Who Became My New Lifelong Friend

Image credits: cryingtween

#36 When I Adopted Her 3 Years Ago Amma Was So Sick With Cat-Flu The Vet Offered To Put Her Down. But Now She’s Grown Into A Lovely Lady

Image credits: NeverTheRani

#37 This Tiny Girl Was Found Abandoned (We Think Dumped), Injured, And Couldn’t See. We Didn’t Think She Would Make It Through The First Night. After Three Weeks, She Can See And Has More Energy Than I Can Sometimes Handle

Image credits: kitkatbloo

#38 It’s Bonya’s Adoption Anniversary! From 6 Weeks To Over A Year Old

Image credits: xiumingday

#39 Someone Left A Cat In The Street When It Was Negative 30 Celsius. I Took Him Home And Found A New Family For Him. And Soon After They Sent Me This Picture (On The Right)

Image credits: catrescueeveryday

#40 Happy First Birthday You Feral Little Man. Please Stop Growing Now. It’s Getting Weird

Image credits: lamemo

#41 5 Years Ago Today, We Adopted The Worst “Feral” Barn Cat. Scruffles Is, However, The Most Affectionate, Talkative, And Spoiled Housecat

Image credits: RiotBreaaad

#42 From Tiny Terrified Rescue To Spoiled Red Spectre

Image credits: melmoths

#43 This Is Riley. She Was One Of A Litter Of Fosters And I Really Thought I Might Lose Her. She Wasn’t Even The Runt, But She Was So Weak. Here She Is As A Wee Kitten, And Today. 8 Months Later. No Regrets (Only The 2nd Keep Out Of 33 Fosters, So Not Bad!)

Image credits: stoirmeacha

#44 My Cat, Ringo, Before And 1 Year Later After Adoption

Image credits: amirul4240

#45 4 Years Ago I Found Him Crying On A Rainy Night & He’s My Best Buddy Ever Since. Meet Mavish!

Image credits: gezginrocker

#46 Sad Cat Showed Up At Our Barn Door Three Months Ago, Vision Impaired And With Kidney Disease- 20% Weight Gain So Far With Just A Little Tlc!

Image credits: nefariousmango

#47 Meet Plump

Image credits: Oniudra

#48 We Found Casey As A Stray (Marked With The Cut In His Ear) At A Busy Intersection. While Picking Him Up To Bring Him To Safety, I Noticed He Was Severely Underweight. We Decided To Take Care Of Him And Give Him A Warm Home!

Image credits: Yourice

#49 October 2017 (She Was Pregnant) V Now

Image credits: ValiantDuckRebel

#50 From A Tiny Rat Tale Baby Who Didn’t Know How To Cat, To A Majestic Floof, Meet Yoda