My mom volunteered at an animal shelter. One day, someone dropped off a huge angora (long haired?) cat in a box, with toys, food, brushes, written instructions. The old person (mom guessed from the spidery handwriting) could no longer afford to feed their elderly cat, and gave the cat up anonymously.
I always wondered about that, who adopted that cat, but my daughter intentionally chose an old cat, just like I chose older dogs, so it is nice when humans take care of our charges properly.