From high kill shelter to happy house panther, this is what love can do (Gallery)

Scared and considered unadoptable, this black kitty was rescued by the mom she always wanted

Meet Ayame the black cat!

“She was found as a stray with a litter of kittens on the streets of NYC. All of her kittens were adopted before her and thus, she was sent to a high-kill shelter,” Ayame’s human mom shared on reddit. “Fortunately, 24hrs before she was supposed to be euthanized, a rescue group saved her and sent her to a foster home.”

“Unfortunately, she is very fearful so she wasn't adopted for over 3 years. I came in wanting a non-clingy cat and it has been history ever since. I still can't pet her normally and she's still slightly afraid but she has made incredible progress!”

When she was first brought home, Ayame went straight under the bed to hide.

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@AyameShadowCat

Her human mom knew that it would time, patience, and plenty of love for Ayame to trust her.

Slowly but surely, Ayame began to explore her surroundings.

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@AyameShadowCat

Play time is a great way to bond with your kitty.

Play time!

A post shared by AyameShadowCat (@ayameshadowcat) on Sep 14, 2016 at 7:45am PDT

Ayame really loves her kitty castle.

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@AyameShadowCat

From being on the streets to having her own castle, Ayame made out pretty good.

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@AyameShadowCat

“This is her favorite place to be :)”

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@AyameShadowCat

Ayame started to open up more and more. She’d come out and follow her mom, from a safe distance of course.

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@AyameShadowCat

How could nobody want to adopt this gorgeous kitty??

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@AyameShadowCat

Cuddling with mom’s clothes.

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@AyameShadowCat

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@AyameShadowCat

And then finally… almost a full year later... she allowed mom to pet her!!

Getting petted like a normal kitty for the first time!!!!

A post shared by AyameShadowCat (@ayameshadowcat) on Apr 1, 2017 at 10:43am PDT

It's been almost a year since Ayame was brought into her forever home. From a high kill shelter to a happy house cat, this is what a little love can do.

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