A woman from Kansas City found a sick stray cat roaming the streets of her neighborhood, and when nobody showed up to claim her, she decided to keep her. Then she found out the cutest little detail about her; she makes “chirpy purrs.”
In a viral video shared on TikTok in October by @petalthekitty, the poster can be seen holding the tuxedo kitty close to her chest on the very first night she found her, as the feline makes bird-like noises while purring in her arms. “I did not expect to spend tonight snuggling a cat that I found on the street two hours ago, but here we are. She’s literally the sweetest cat I’ve ever met. She’s also very sick, as you can hear from the way she’s breathing and purring,” she says in the clip.
The poster, 33-year-old Emy Blake, from Kansas City, told Newsweek that, while she was out of town for a couple of weeks last year, her mom noticed a stray in the neighborhood. After trying unsuccessfully to find her owner, she asked Blake to approach the feline and give her some help.
“Immediately when I approached her, I noticed she was sick. She came to me right away and started purring. I brought her inside and took care of her. She wanted to cuddle right away and snuggled in the blankets with me,” Blake said.
@petalthekitty
After taking Birdie to their local animal shelter for treatment and to confirm she did not have a home, Blake and her mom decided to make the cat family.
The post continues with a clip of the feline now, enjoying her life as an indoor cat. “This is Birdie now living her best life. She’s so happy in the house; she’s in this window bed most of the time, or burrowing under blankets, and she’s still doing her cute pigeon purr,” Blake says in the clip.
“I’m so glad the cat distribution system brought us Birdie [because] she would not have survived on the street. I don’t know how she got there and we never found an owner or anything. We are so happy to have her and love her.”
As of today, Birdie is about 15 years old, doesn’t have any teeth, is partially blind and deaf, has a heart murmur, and chronic upper respiratory infections, but she has never lived a better life.
“She sleeps next to my mom every night and is very happy. We love her so much! We named her Birdie for her pigeon-like purr,” Blake added.
With shelters nationwide severely overwhelmed, it is important when you find a stray animal to alert local authorities and get them spayed/neutered.
It is estimated that over 6.3 million pets enter U.S. shelters every year, and while some find a home, about 920,000 of them end up being euthanized, often for lack of space in the facilities.
However, before you approach a homeless feline, you should ensure that it is in fact a stray and not a feral cat. The latter is not domesticated, and you risk getting hurt by approaching it if you are not a trained expert.
But how can you tell whether a cat is a stray or a feral just by looking at them?
British animal charity Blue Cross says that you will be able to tell a stray cat from a feral by paying attention to their behavior. Strays usually look lost and tend to roam around houses and people. Feral cats, on the other hand, are usually not friendly and try to avoid human contact as much as they can.
The best thing to do when you find a feral cat is to call the local shelter or veterinarian and report the animal. If you find a stray, you should contact your veterinarian to see if they are microchipped, in which case they must be returned to their owners. If nobody claims them, you can keep them if you wish.
The video quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 30,000 views and almost 6,000 likes on the platform.
One user, Luxunumbra Crj, commented: “Honey, I’ll hold your hand as I say this…you’re the home.”
Nina posted: “This might be the cutest velociraptor I’ve ever heard.”
Amber (Morgan’s Version) added: “My cat has been doing chirpy purrs since day 1 and it makes me so happy.”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.