Ringo (formerly Joey) was fostered by @honihonicatsmaui, flew on the special Operation Aloha Cat @roammaui flight to Seattle on August 20th (donated by @plantifulshelly & ohana) where he was picked up by the amazing @thecritterroom & @whiskersathome, livestreamed overnight and then brought to @paws_wa the next day (pinned reel if you want to watch!)

But let’s get to the REALLY good part (as told by Ashley, Ringo’s adopter):

“About a week ago Sage and I unexpectedly lost our beloved 12 year old cat, Olivia (Livi).

The next day we woke up heartbroken. We didn’t know what to do with ourselves. We decided to get out of the house and explore a nearby town to see if we could find a trinket or item that we could keep in our home to honor Livi. Her ashes were scattered in an apple orchard so we searched for something apple related. We didn’t have much luck and decided to head home…but on the way we impulsively decided to stop at @paws_wa for some kitty love.

They put us in a room with a young kitten who had been transported recently to Seattle to escape the Maui wildfires but was waiting to be picked up by his new adopter. We figured it was safe since he was already claimed but we quickly fell in love. The adopter did not show up so we put a “hold” on the kitten to give ourselves time to process if we were ready to take home a new cat.

We spent a few days trying to think of names for our potential new kitten and I kept coming back to “Ringo” since Sage and I both love playing the drums. We looked up the name Ringo to see if there were any other meanings and were surprised to learn that Ringo translated to apple in Japanese. We found our “apple” to honor Livi. She sent us a new kitty to love since we could no longer pour our love into her.

We already love him so, so much. He has brought us so much healing and joy and we feel so grateful to have found our little Maui boy with the kinked tail.”

–@ashleygoris

And we’re thankful for you, Ashley & Sage! Thank you for bringing sweet Ringo into your loving ohana.