My wife is the asst manager at our local shelter and finding new homes for cats and dogs is often a real challenge. Trapped a near-neighbor's (mile away) unneutered tom that has been harassing our's and immediate neighbor's cats on our deck last night. Sweet guy, he and his also unneutered brother are both in the shelter now for 'free' neutering, testing, shots, chips etc. Nice family had them, but had no idea what they were in for not getting them neutered early...
I know exactly what you mean. M'lady and I rescued Suzy and Molly when they are little kittens, and had done that earlier with other cats we had owned. In the case of Suzy and Molly, we got a call from an acquaintance of m'lady who told she had two kittens that were going to be put down in the morning, and did we want to see them. We got there as fast as we could. While chatting, m'lady sat down, and Suzy climbed on her lap, purring and ready to nap. She said, "We have to take her home." I said, "If we are one, we are taking both." We made a very happy decision for all concerned.
Btw, Daisy the Feral Princess and Tomato the Brave are spayed and neutered. I seriously doubt Shy Stripesy has, and as she is truly feral, she won't let me near her. We've fed her for almost two years, and she's still afraid of us. She had a brother who acted the same way, but he finally came around and grew to be very friendly. But, he disappeared last June, and I have no idea what happened to him.