A stray cat mom has gone viral for taking all of her newborn kittens to stay with her human friend who has been feeding her and giving her water for a while.
The person taking care of her, who goes by the username u/catnip4sale, shared a video of the cat bringing one of her babies to their place on Reddit, captioned: “I met a friendly stray about two weeks ago, gave her food and water, and showed her how to get to my bedroom window. Today, she brought me all 4 of her newborn kittens.”
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In the post, which since Tuesday has so far reached over 80,000 upvotes and 1,500 comments, u/catnip4sale explained that after feeding and and giving some water to the cat, they established a bond and the cat felt safe to bring all four of her kittens to their house, jumping from the bedroom window, as can be seen in the video.
In some further comments, they also explained that they’re now taking care of all the cats, including a previous one they had in the house, making them the owner of not one but six cats. They also said they put a collar on the cat mom’s neck, with the name Mia, to see if any potential owner would realize the mistake, but nobody claimed her.
“We had a windstorm last night and I think it spooked her and she decided to bring the babies somewhere safe,” they said in one of their comments.
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), approximately 3.4 million cats enter animal shelters nationwide every year.
Each year, approximately 1.4 million cats are euthanized and about 1.3 million shelter cats are adopted. Of the cats entering shelters, approximately 37 percent are adopted, 41 percent are euthanized, and less than 5 percent of cats who came in as strays are returned to their owners.
The Reddit community was delighted and amused by the video. One user, TheCyberClaws said: “I hear that’s how you get cats.” OkRefrigerator4361 commented: “I have 2 that I am trying to bribe into loving me but [they] are not there yet.”
Modsarefascists42 added: “Start feeding a starving stray and pretty soon you have a new dependant who insists on sleeping in your bed and whines when you close any door.” And Dick_snatcher joked: “I see you’ve met me ex.”
TheDevilsAdvokaat commented on behalf of the cats: “We live with you now. Is better.” And Divio42 joked about how much more cleaning they will have to do: “You’re going to need a bigger litter box.”
Other users, cantthinkofgoodname. reflected on how clever cats are, and concluded way more than us: “Think about how cats have evolved to essentially trick humans to providing food and shelter simply by appealing to the human.”
RNGD18 joked: “Sounds like your cat investment is up 500%!” And Topcity36 said: “Time to go buy some more pet related stocks.”
Newsweek has reached out to u/catnip4sale for comment.
