Featured last November, Tora has found a home with Risako Uegaki and her husband, Takuma. Uegaki volunteers at the ARK shelter a few times a month and says meeting Tora was “love at first sight.”
However, Uegaki didn’t jump to adopt. The Osaka couple already had another cat, and she “felt sure he’d soon find a home.” However, when Uegaki learned that Tora was found to have late-stage cancer, she put up her hand to adopt.
“I wanted to have him spend his remaining days as part of our family,” Uegaki says.
Despite coming from ARK’s shelters and his serious condition, Tora immediately took to his new home.
“He started exploring from the first day, but was quite reserved for the first week,” Uegaki says. “I thought he was easy-going but he started to get more picky with food. We tried a lot of different brands, but it’s fine because our other cat will eat what he doesn’t.”
Tora has another preference: watching videos.
“I noticed that whenever I’d watch videos on my phone or tablet, he’d get behind me and watch, too,” she says. “I was amazed at first, but now it’s part of our routine to curl up together and watch videos before bed.”
A freelance web designer who works at home, Uegaki says Tora likes to supervise her work from his special spot on the bed.
“I admit: I do take longer breaks so I can play with him,” she says. “I feel really blessed to have him. And I’m very grateful to ARK for having loved him before I did.”