Nurse adopted cat from patient who couldn’t keep him. They’re reunited 10 years later

A nurse adopted a “beloved” cat from a couple who could no longer care for him during a hospital stay 10 years ago in Maryland.

Now the 17-year-old cat and his former family were just reunited in an emotional visit.

Registered nurse Arianna Graziadei met the couple during treatment at Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center a decade ago, the hospital said in a July 27 Facebook post.

At the time, Papa Bear the cat was 7, and Graziadei agreed to adopt him and give him a good home when the couple came to the conclusion they couldn’t keep him any longer.

“I promised them I would love him and take the best care of him,” Graziadei wrote in an Instagram post in May 2023 for Papa Bear’s 16th birthday. “I had no idea at the time that the next 9 years of my life with him would be full of the greatest love.”

Recently, one of Papa Bear’s former owners was admitted to the Acute Care for the Elderly unit, according to the medical center.

Graziadei “recognized the name immediately” and got permission to bring Papa Bear into the patient’s room with a leash and harness, the hospital said.

“The moment Papa Bear saw them, he jumped onto their lap, purring and wagging his tail,” hospital officials said. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as they shared this emotional reunion.”

Graziadei said Papa Bear has been with her through highs and lows over the course of nearly a decade together.

“He is more than just a cat to me,” she wrote. “He is love to the very core of the word and fills my heart to the brim with happiness. The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is to love and be loved (in) return.”

Graziadei has been recognized for her work with patients, receiving the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Nurses in 2017.

“Arianna is the kind of nurse I would want to care for my family member,” someone who nominated Graziadei wrote. “I have seen countless patients and families hug her, thank her, cry with her and shower her with gifts of gratitude.”

The hospital commended her effort to make the reunion possible.

Anne Arundel County is about a 30-mile drive east from Washington, D.C.