Stray cats are often half-wild and have minimal trust for human beings.
Many have only experienced cruel treatment from the people around them, so it’s difficult to convince them that some people are genuinely good and want to help. When animal rescuer Kim first saw a pregnant black-and-white cat in her neighborhood, she had to set a trap to get the animal to safety.
Kate brought the mama cat to Karly and Katelyn Saltarski of Salty Animal Rescue in Orlando, Florida, and the shelter started the long process of caring for a half-feral animal.
“Mom wasn’t super happy about humans at first but did let me sneak in a few pets,” Karly shared. “She was about a five-and-a-half on the spice scale, but with some extra work, we knew we could get her down to a solid one.”
Video of those early encounters showed that the cat, who they named Banksy after the street artist, wasn’t quite sure what to make of those first human hands touching her. But as time goes on, she slowly warmed up to her rescuers and even started to purr. She went into labor a few days later. She had seven kittens!
All of the kittens were healthy, although two of them did require around-the-clock care from Karly and her team. Incidentally, they named all of the kittens after artists, like their mama: Warhol, Frida, Pablo, Mona, Monet, Bob Ross, and Dali. How cute is that?
As Banksy watched the humans caring for her kittens, she must have realized that people can be good, after all. She grew friendlier and more trusting with each passing day.
Things were going so well with the kitty family that Karly decided to bring in her secret rescue weapon, her friendly dog Nood! Nood is the official kitten babysitter in her household. The babies took to Nood right away and now enjoy cuddling on her warm fur every chance they get.
“Nood finally got to meet her newest babies and there could not be a happier dog,” said Karly.
All of the kittens are now old enough to be adopted, and the shelter is working on finding them all forever homes. Banksy will also be spayed and adopted, giving her a chance to live the rest of her life with no more kittens to raise, a chance she’d never have gotten on the streets.
Hooray for happy endings! Share this story to thank these rescuers for teaching a stray cat that not all humans are mean.
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.