Rescuing cats from the streets is a good deed. You never know what could happen to them out there, and pulling them into a stable home with regular vet visits and daily balanced meals is kind.
Until Tuesday, October 1st, pretty much no one ever stopped to think... "what are ex-streets leaving behind after rescue?" Did they have a life? Did they have friends? When one woman's former street cat got caught staring out the window at another kitty, she was forced to ask herself questions like these. In the process, she sent the whole internet into a spiral:
Sophie Jane broke my brain in two ways with this clip: one, the moral crisis about stray cats, and two, the fact that "Romeow" is possibly the best cat name of all time and I've never heard it before. I feel entitled to financial compensation or something.
Related: Stray Cat Sweetly Brings Human Friend Her Babies As the Ultimate Sign of Trust
According to Sophie, she took in the cat a few months ago, but don't think she abandoned the other strays in her neighborhood! Even though the outdoor kitty in this video doesn't live in her house, she feeds him every night, even as her home cats watch in envy. Yes, they had dinner already.
She says she can't bring this cat inside: her resident cat, Hopper, hardly accepted the first new addition. She's worried about how he'd react to another one, which is totally valid, and maybe plans will change. For now, though, she'll have to put the former stray on a leash if they want to have a playdate!
It's Okay Not To Take In Stray Cats
This situation is profound and adorable, but a lot of the comments are skewing very heavily toward, "you have to take in that other cat or else!" By not doing it, some feel like the story is incomplete - a valid feeling, but it's not her responsibility to cater to us. It's her responsibility to keep her animals safe. She goes above and beyond by providing meals for the others!
Just because you see a stray cat in your neighborhood in no way means that you have to take it in yourself. It's natural to want to help, but there are other safer, less stressful ways to do it:
- Building little feeding/watering stations outside.
- Putting up outdoor cat condos for shelter.
- Calling a local animal rescue and informing them that there's a stray in your area.
- Picking them up yourself and dropping them off at a shelter, especially if you notice they aren't spayed/neutered.
Decreasing the stray cat population is a goal that basically everyone has, but it's not as easy as it sounds. As unfortunate as it is, not every stray cat will find a forever home, and that's just something we have to accept. That's why so many organizations designed to help strays are leaning into a "trap, neuter, vaccinate, release" approach: the more stray cats we sterilize, the fewer stray cats there will be. We get it, though: this video is definitely giving serious romcom vibes!
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