'My [cat] literally just moved himself in': The online feline family share how their former-feral cats domesticated themselves, gaining the home and love they deserve

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Ayala Sorotsky • Writer and Editor
Sep 8, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

All cat people know - every cat deserves love, care, and a place to call home. Cats are such affectionate creatures, full of love just waiting to be given. And another thing every cat person knows, is that we're all here ready to recive that love from cats. It's a meowgical phenomenon, and if you're a cat person, you definitely know it. The magic of cats is their love, and they just want a home to give it in.

And cats know this themselves. How do we know it? Because cats make it very clear. Some feral strays are begging to be adopted, both because they know a loving home is the place to be, and because they know this is where they can give their cat meowgic to the hearty hoomans who adopted them.

One such new cat pawrent shared their story of their cat adoption - a strictly stray orange who was extremely hungry, ate whatever the kind person could give him, and decided: "This is a suitable place. I live here now." Such as he is. The entire online feline family shared their own stories of how street cats basically adopted them. Or, more accurately, adopted themselves into their homes. We're rooting for these brave cats adopting themselves.

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  • 01
    This dude just said f it and moved in
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    Cheezburger Image 10551161088
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    His side eye looked at the bowl.
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    Cheezburger Image 10551164160
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    He ate the bowl. I've never seen a cat chug 4 can of fancy feast at once.
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    Cheezburger Image 10551165184
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  • This catto looks so comforbale now, inside, with a roof over his head and a full belly. This is how cats should be - safe, healthy, and well-rested. That's the basic necessities we wish for every cat out there.

  • 07
    He hung around outside for a few weeks and then finally came in.
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    Cheezburger Image 10551160832
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    He pops a lot but he's in heaven
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    BlakeDid Nothing Wrong LOL this dude looks exactly like my neighbor's old cat that they tried to TNR. They caught him,
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    cleaned him up, and attempted to release him in a cat carrier. Old Boomerang stepped out, turned around and went back into his cat carrier. 1.4K ○ Reply
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    Star_World_8311 · OMG, our orangie, named Sherbet, did practically the same thing after we got him fixed! I went to release him from the trap, he walked out, gave my thumb a gentle bite/hold (not breaking the skin at all), and walked back into
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    the house. It took him a few years to realize that he could take up space, but once he started learning to be an inside kitty he turned into a snugglebug. He now sleeps with his paws on my shoulders and his head tucked under my chin at night. 713 > Reply ...
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    gwaydms. That's just too cute. He knows you rescued him and gave him a home. Some feral cats domesticate themselves. 244 ◇ Reply Jasmisne ⚫ Yeah my orange literally just moved himself in too, he was like hey im not an outdoor boi feed me 119 ○ Reply
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    gwaydms. I wish my Sylvie had done that. Skittish neighborhood cat who just planted herself in our backyard and decided she was home. Over the years she became more friendly and less skittish.
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    She would greet any visitor with her magnificent long fur and cute little face, purring and giving love nibbles. But she never got along with our two indoor cats, even though she came inside sometimes.
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    StasiaMonkey • Baby was at the last stage of TNR and said, "Nope, the indoor life is for me." 118 > Reply FriedRamen1 TNNR - Trap, Neuter, New Roommate 113 Reply
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    Professional_Shift69 OP In some ways. He never got trapped. He will get shots and a snippy snippy but like someone else said relax, or roommate ✩ 11 > Reply
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    aaaggggrrrrimapirare ⚫ That is how mama cat, my most recent cat, came to be. She was like, "hmmm what's this AC thing you got going on?" 56 Reply Aida_Hwedo • Hehe! I got my current cat in winter, and it wasn't long before he was staring in awe at the furnace vents. 30 Reply ...
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    Professional_Shift69 OP It actually got slightly colder outside so he hasnt felt AC yet but im sure he will absolutely love it and maybe let me give him a tummy rub ↑ 3 3 ۵ ○ Reply Key-Juggernaut3796 ⚫ Best! ۵2 82 ♡ > Reply ...
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    Disaster_Bi_1811 · Ha! I ended up with an indoor cat that way. I was trying to TNR a colony of 30, and the first was this MASSIVE black cat. He went straight in the trap and kept eating even when I closed behind him. We got him neutered, released him...and
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    had to bring him inside because he WOULD NOT stay out of the trap, making it impossible to get any of the other cats. He was so big that the others couldn't even get in, but he just kept making a beeline for the trap! + 46 > Reply ...
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    Fast Cod1883. I love that. what is his name? 13 > Reply
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    Disaster_Bi_1811 · The General! When I came home late at night, I'd often find him walking along the roof; he would get up there and hunt for roof rats.
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    And one night, I came home and there were 5-6 cats on the sidewalk following along underneath him, so it became a running joke that he was a general defending his territory. 36 Reply
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  • What on original name! And it's not just “General”. Nope - it's The General. We salute this brave dude. What a cat.

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    redrosebeetle • I did the same with another ginger cat. He took two steps out of his cat carrier and collapsed, purring on me. He stayed that way for about 6 hours when he woke up and was like, "what the f," freaked out
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    for a few days, then decided "this chick is cool, I'm going to hang out and purr on her again." and that was that for 10 or so years. 16 ◇ Reply
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    Woofles85 ⚫ He also looks like my childhood porch cat! He was in really bad shape when we found him. Got him all fixed up and released him onto our porch. He never left that porch for 15 years. I wanted to let him inside but my mom said no. ↑ 28 Reply ...
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    D D Queasy_Beat1728. "He pops a lot but he's in heaven". 133 ◇ Reply
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    Professional_Shift69 OP ⚫ He legit ate a Costco sized haul of whiskas in 2 days.
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    Hes moved on to drinking water and more crunchies since. He was hungry and now the most peacefully dude imaginable. 127 ◇ Reply
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    Toonces348 · Your new boss is cute. 109 Reply B
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adopt wholesome cat wholesome cats adoption heartwarming cat people domesticated cat adoption animal rescue reddit story adopted cat rescue happy ending domestic feral happy reddit thread Reddit Cats home rescue
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