A trip to the local animal shelter was only meant for visiting and scoping out potential pets, but a woman folded when she looked into the eyes of the oldest resident.
Katie Nelson, known on TikTok as @kaatienelson, went to the animal shelter a week after graduating from college. She told Newsweek via TikTok that she always knew she wanted to adopt a senior pet, but this visit wasn’t for that purpose. Or that’s what she thought originally.
She stumbled upon Astro, a nearly 11-year-old dog, and instantly knew this was her dog. Astro came into the animal shelter as a stray; however, based on context clues, such as his teeth, Nelson believes he was a breeding dog, and the previous owner dumped him.
Astro was in the shelter for about two or three weeks before Nelson’s spur-of-the-moment decision landed him in his forever home. She couldn’t stand the thought of this senior dog spending another minute there, and the next day she returned for him.
“I wasn’t planning on adopting, but after I met him, I knew I had to bring him home, but I needed a day to get all of our supplies, so I came back the next day to pick him up!” she said.
She wrote in the video caption that this became her “best spontaneous decision” ever.
Fast-forward to life with Astro a year later, and Nelson can’t imagine her life without him. She said that “he’s been doing great,” and people often assume he is only a few months old, as he sports a new, youthful glow. However, he’s just a senior dog living his best life in his golden years.
“He is loving having his own space and going on new adventures,” she said. “It seems like he’s acting younger than he was when we first got him!”
The dog’s transformation from shelter life to being home with Nelson instantly captured people’s hearts, and within three days, the TikTok video amassed over 4 million views, 912,500 likes and 4,780 comments.
“He’s aging backwards with you,” pointed out a viewer.
Another added: “Stop, you gave him his smile back.”
A third person said: “Thank you for giving him the life he deserves.”
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