‘I finally realize he was actually a very sweet, super scared kitty that needed to feel safe and be given space’: Grieving man reluctantly fosters his late friend's cat and patiently transforms a hissing terror into an affectionate companion for adoption

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Oct 22, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

The passing of a cat pawrent can be especially tough on their cat child. For while the hoomans around understand what has happened, and have to cope with that understanding, the cat child is at an immediate disadvantage, lacking the ability to completely comprehend what has happened to their pawrent.

A scary position to be in, without a doubt. But what is possibly even more terrifying is that as this late person's cat child you could be pawned off to any number of disinterested relatives or even worse the local shelter. Luckily, the story we have for you today does not go that way, and instead tells the tale of a kind and caring man who moved heaven and earth to make the transition for his late friend's cat child as smooth and painless as possible. Even if it cost him in a few scratches along the way.
 

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  • 01
    Two days ago, a good friend c I'm not going into specifics. He was old, he was on oxygen, and he could barely move around.
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  • 02
    One of the few things he had going in his life was his cat (which we'll call Satan for now). He loved that cat, and while the animal was around him it seemed to be polite enough not to try attempted m r.
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  • 03
    When I got the notice my friend was in the ER, I met with his son there, and by the time we got there it was too late.
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  • 04
    I knew his cat was one of the few things he cared about and offered to go to my friend's apartment to feed it. He declined saying he'll get to it later.
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  • Wow, now this is what you call a good friend. We cannot think of any kind of friends that would be so caring as to consider that after our passing, someone would need to step up and take care of our cat child for us. It truly warms the heart to know that there are people who are this sensitive and caring.

  • 05
    The next day, he asked if I would be willing to take the cat. Not gonna lie, I said yes because I loved my friend and because I didn't want the one thing that kept him constant company on his last days to get out down.
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  • 06
    I went to my friends apartment and tried to get the cat into a pet crate, and the animal fought so hard against me that it both broke the crate's door and st itself.
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  • 07
    I bought a jumbo crate (3'x3'x4') with two levels and put it in my garage, with a litter box and some food inside the crate. I know this is not an ideal accommodation for Satan, but I don't know where else to put him.
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  • 08
    My brother in law suggested releasing it into the wild. Satan lived its whole life in my friend's apartment and I don't know how it'd fare outside.
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  • 09
    I have a dog, to boot. A very excitable, very curious, very old, VERY territorial Jack Russel/Rat Terrier mix. I see no way of letting Satan into the main side of the house without an accident occurring.
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  • 10
    I can't let Satan roam free in the garage because it 1) will destroy my brother in law's tools (I've seen it go through furniture like a wood chipper,
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  • While we cannot call this an ideal living situation for a cat, we can most certainly appreciate that this man is taking on the burden of his fallen friend. And for the time being, especially considering he had no time to prepare for this, a two story crate will most certainly do the job. It is certainly better than the brother-in-law’s plan…

  • 11
    2) it will go into the attic of the house which has a bunch of loose insulation and if it sh s in there the smell will stay in the (rental) house forever, and 3) someone will inevitably leave the garage open where it'll escape.
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  • 12
    I don't know what to do. Satan's been here less than a day and all I know from it is hissing and defensive sh g.
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  • 13
    After three days of keeping Satan in the crate, I realized two things.
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    1. That if I was kidnapped by a random guy coming into my house and brought to a new place, then kept in a cage 24/7, I wouldn't be too friendly
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    either. And 2) that I can't keep a cat in a cage indefinitely and just hope the situation magically improves somehow. Besides, I'm kind of tired of
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  • 16
    getting my hands f d with every time I try to feed him.
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  • 17
    So my wife (the f g trooper, she) and I decided to make a big compromise and started sleeping in the living room, leaving the cat to be out of the cage completely in my room.
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  • 18
    The first three days, he would either run under my bed or into my closet and stare at me with wide eyes while making low guttural noises.
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  • 19
    On the fourth day, I decided I would start to talk to it (mainly out of frustration) and start explaining to Satan that although I get it, he needs to chill the fck out. He seems incredibly confused by this.
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  • 20
    Eventually this seemed to work, and despite still not wanting to be touched, he stopped growling at me and signaling an imminent attack. That day I learned that cats understand tone like dogs.
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  • 21
    This talking to him continued throughout the week and drove Satan to come out of the closet or under the bed while I was in the room, but if I moved at all he'd hiss and dart back to cover.
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  • 22
    Eventually something changed at the start of the second week and Satan started to get on the bed while I was in the room, which lead into him getting on top of furniture while I was in the room.
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  • 23
    All throughout the ordeal I'm looking at cat body language videos to try and understand the animal. Also, I'm the only one feeding him and trying to get him to be okay with me being around while he eats.
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  • 24
    Somehow, one day I go into the room and, seeing him on the bed, I decide to plop down next to him to see if he'll attack me. He mrrreeeeewwws lowly, but doesn't attack, I look away from him, lean back and stay there for a
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  • 25
    while, pretending like this is not a terrible inconvenience for either of us. Satan obliged me and played along. Moving into the third week, I can sit in the bed and lay next to Satan and he
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    Cheezburger Image 10566722560
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  • 27
    shows no signs of aggression, so I try my next move: Putting one of my extremities RIGHT NEXT to him. I do this many times a day, acting like it's not a big deal, and eventually while laying next to him, I
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  • 28
    touch him with my knee (I figured if he goes into attack mode, I'd rather have the sweet protection of thick denim). Satan immediately protests but doesn't move away, so mid week I try to touch
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  • 29
    him with my arm and to my surprise he's okay with that too. By this point I've also made a habit of cleaning his box and opening the blinds for him in the morning so he'll be able to look out the
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  • 30
    window. I slow blink before leaving to work and he slow blinks back. Before I knew it, it was the fourth week and Satan's letting me pet him for short periods of time and only certain parts of his back, before
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  • 31
    hissing or lightly swatting (as opposed to the vicious war crimes he was trying to pull off initially). It's the middle of the fourth week and at this point, we've built enough of a tacit communication
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  • 32
    that I feel comfortable fully petting him, talking to him, and letting him walk around the house while my dog's out on a walk. At this point, I come in the room every day in the morning to change and talk
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  • 33
    to Satan, and he talks back and DEMANDS to be petted by me. On my off days, I go in the room and he'll follow me around. By the end of the fourth week, I play with Satan and he lets me pick him up.
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  • 34
    I finally realize he was actually a very sweet, super scared kitty that needed to feel safe and be given space, and furthermore everything negative that happened was my fault for not understanding him and pressuring him.
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  • 35
    By then, I already feel he's social enough that I can offer him around, but just for good measure I keep him for one more (fifth) week (which was enough for me to bond with him and feel bad about giving him away).
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  • 36
    My wife and I discuss whether or not to keep him, but my dog (who's named after a Mexican narco, but that's a different story) ends up going after a cat when we're walking him (it was dark) and getting hurt, which
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  • 37
    ends that line of thinking. The week went by smoothly, and I manage to get his medical records from my friend's family and the hospital Satan was taken to.
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  • 38
    Sixth week, I take to Facebook and, with due disclaimers, I offer him around: Satan, older cat, needs a new home Former cat of a loner
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  • 39
    Affectionate but needs house without children or other pets Is curious and playful once it gets comfortable A lot of people offer to take Satan into their homes, and a
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  • 40
    lot of people don't meet the requirements | outlined. Eventually someone reaches out to me and not only are they a perfect fit for him, they understand all the constraints that go
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  • 41
    into adapting an older cat into a new home. They came yesterday and I didn't even struggle to get him into the carrier they brought. I went into their home today to take some of Satan's playthings as well as
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  • 42
    some food I had left over, and although he was hiding under the bed and mrrrewing, he peeked out on the halfway while my wife and I talked to his new owners. I stressed to these people that if they
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  • 43
    have any big issues with him he's 100% returnable, but (unlike me) this isn't their first adopted cat. We promised to keep in touch, and I came back and cleaned up my room to sleep in it.
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  • 44
    One of my knuckles is f' _d forever, and I will absolutely never have a cat ever again, but it was a great experience nonetheless. The f g end (I hope).
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