Pets tend to go viral for all sorts of reasons. Whether it's two cats mirroring each other's movements, a devastated dog that lost his ball, or a hissing cat that warns people and dogs to keep their distance. More recently, one pet went viral on Reddit after a user shared a picture of a sad-looking cat that is currently living in a shelter after "losing his forever home."
Under the username u/lesmax, the OP (original poster) shared a post on the r/cats subreddit on Thursday, captioning it "Frankie Sad Eyes. He's trying to adjust to shelter life after losing his forever home at 13 years old. His goal is a quiet couch to snooze on." Since then, the post has amassed a total of 54,500 upvotes and 1,400 comments.
Newsweek spoke to Angela Hartley, development director at Tabby's Place, a cat shelter located in Ringoes, New Jersey. Frankie Sad Eyes, a domestic shorthair cat, arrived to Tabby's Place in January 2022. According to Hartley, Frankie "may be 12-13 years old," but despite his age he still has "the energy of a whole clowder of kittens."
She also added that a 12-year-old cat would be roughly equivalent to a 64-year-old person, so the age isn't considered to be "that old." According to Blue Cross, some domestic cats can live up to 20 years old.
It's unclear what exact circumstances led to the cat ending up in the shelter. Hartley shared that Tabby's Place was able to "provide Frankie a loving haven when his family could no longer care for him."
"From the moment he arrived, Frankie has been a zesty, exuberant sweetheart! His sad eyes don't match his joyful spirit," Hartley told Newsweek. "He has a heart of gold," she added.
Hartley described that "from the moment he arrived, Frankie has been a zesty, exuberant sweetheart! His sad eyes don't match his joyful spirit."
The Reddit post was shared by an "offsite" volunteer who often provides hospice fostering for cats from Tabby's Place.
The OP also revealed that Frankie "isn't a fan of other cats."
"He wants to be someone's 'one and only,' given his experience," the OP explained. "He can be a little bossy and overconfident with his kitty neighbors," Hartley added. She also shared that Frankie is currently on behavior medication for his aggression issues towards other cats.
Since the post was shared, many users expressed their reactions in the comment section.
"[I] hope someone scoops him up so he can enjoy his senior years surrounded by love," one user wrote.
"This breaks my heart," another commenter shared.
Meanwhile, one user expressed an intention to donate to the shelter: "Do you do adoption sponsors? If so, I'll donate!"
"I just want to hold him and tell him everything will be [OK]," another commenter wrote.
According to Statista, the number of domestic cats adopted from U.S.-based shelters or rescues was over 684,000 in 2021, which was 30,000 more compared to the number recorded in 2020.
"Senior cats are adopted from Tabby's Place all the time, so we're very optimistic for Frankie," Hartley said. According to her, over the last two years Tabby's Place took in an average of 255 cats per year over the past two years (averaging about 20 cats a month).
Hartley shared that Tabby's Place also accepts virtual adoptions, meaning people can sponsor Frankie with a monthly donation, in exchange for which they will receive photo updates on a regular basis.
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