A man walked into a cat shelter… ha ha, it sounds like I’m going to tell you a joke. No, this is not a laughing matter, however, it may make you smile. Yes, a man actually did walk into a shelter in Maine to adopt a new cat. His cat, Cutie Pie, had disappeared a week or so before and he wanted to get another cat friend.
While there, however, he noticed something
familiar about one of the cats in a pen. Turns out it was Cutie Pie waiting for her next forever home. According to shelter volunteers, it was obvious that this was the man’s missing cat as she was so eager to go home with him that she dove into the carrier without having to be coaxed.
I don’t know why we’re surprised when a cat does something unusual or amazing, but we are. We know cats are smart and clever. They find their way home over long distances—sometimes even to a place they’ve never been. They will mother animals of different species, even sometimes kidnap baby animals from a rabbit or squirrel or…
Cats can be pranksters. One cat I read about took tacks out of a corkboard and dropped them into the family members’ shoes. I love the story of the crotchety old grandfather cat who landed in a shelter and was so ornery and mean and disagreeable that no one wanted him. He was unadoptable and, as I 
understand it, on his way to being euthanized until… Yes, until a litter of orphaned kittens arrived at the shelter. The mean old cat expressed a tender interest in the kittens and they adored climbing all over him. He was so gentle with them and interested in them, that the shelter director gave him a reprieve. He became the grandfather figure/mentor/nurturer for kittens from then on. And from what I understand, he did his job well.
There’s also the story of the nursing home cat that predicted death. Hours (sometimes days) before a patient passed, this cat would move in with him and comfort him, staying close until he died. Then the cat moved on to the next near-death patient.
Yes, cat’s are amazing and each is unique. They’re so quirky and have so many aspects and facets to them that cats still rule the Internet and our hearts.
