Two friends make a heartwarming journey out of taking 45 foster cats who were abandoned by the shelter system to another state to find them furrever homes: 'First time it was 26 cats, this time we had 45'

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Jan 20, 2026 1:00 PM EST

If you thought transporting one cat to the vet was hard, imagine taking over 40 in the same car.

Getting our cats into the car to go anywhere is a whole ordeal. Even just getting them into the carrier takes at least twenty minutes and we end up exhausted before the journey even begins. But our journey to the vet is a much less wholesome story than the one below, where two friends take on the task of transporting 45 foster cats that were put into overflow by the shelter system (meaning that they were about to be abandoned for lack of space) to another state to find them furrever homes. If there were ever some angels in disguise, it must certainly be these two.

After 15 hours, the two pawrents safely made it to Kansas, where the cats were distributed to different shelters to hopefully be ready for adoption, and then to their new families. One of the friends fell head-over-paws in love with one of the cats, 'Nutmeg', who spent most of the time in their lap either sleeping or trying to chew their headphone cable. Unfurtunately, they were not able to keep Nutmeg, but released her to find someone who could care for her as she deserved to be.

This story is not a common one, but it teaches us a few impurrtant lessons. Firstly, to always spay or neuter your cats. The reason why so many shelters are full is because there are simply too many stray cats and not enough space. The second, is that sometimes the right thing to do is hard. It takes time (15 hours, to be exact). It will be uncomfortable, sometimes. But we don't do good deeds for the result, we do them because a good deed is its own reward.

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  • 01

    We put forty five cats that aren’t ours into a van

    82 ASPEN
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  • 02
    As the title says... My friend does a lot of work with stray cats, and to an extent, dogs. He's got an entire property full of fosters (that he DOES get adopted out) but there's also an overflow shelter of sorts in Colorado that one of his wife's ex students (a vet) works with.
    via undercover_cheetah
  • 03

    Then drove from Central Illinois to Western Kansas

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  • 04
    So, Clay does this a lot, and it's my second trip since I did the first one in February of 2024. First time it was 26 cats, this time we had 45. Nutmeg is the one that spent four hours out of the twelve on my lap either sleeping or trying to eat my headphones or fingers.
    via undercover_cheetah

  • We've maybe helped around 30 cats in our entire lifetime by feeding neighborhood strays and volunteering at an animal shelter a few times, but to save 45 cats at once is nothing short of a miracle. Think of what might have happened to these poor babies if these two hadn't taken it upon themselves to take them to where they needed to be. All cats deserve a warm home and a purrson who loves them, and it's not fair that they don't get that because of our choices.

  • 05
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  • 06
    Final side note, the vehicle we took them there in was much bigger than the one pictured, their second part of the trip is only three hours and they were much more comfortable the previous twelve.
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  • 07

    Nutmeg

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  • 08

    Nutmeg cuddles

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  • 09

    Snuggly girl

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  • 10

    Sleepy, snuggly Nutmeg

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  • 11
    NoNeedForNorms So is Nutmeg included with the not your cats orrrr????
    via NoNeedForNorms
  • 12
    henare that dude in the fourth photo is adorbs.
    via henare
  • 13
    MalfunctioningLoki This is a very, very NotMyCat post and I'm here for it!
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  • 14
    helen790 You're literally the r/catdistributionsystem
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  • 15
    3batsinahousecoat Aww, babies. Some of these babies clearly just want to be loved
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  • 16
    Quiet-Barracuda-1698 i just want to hug all of you and the cats too lol this is incredible
    via Quiet-Barracuda-1698
  • 17
    Lizardgirl25 I am pretty sure nutmeg is scheming to be your cat.
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  • 18
    FelicitousLynx Take my poor person's award Y You both are amazing humans and give me hope for this world.
    via FelicitousLynx
  • 19
    AyaHawkeye Wow, well done! That's one hell of a task! I volunteer for a local rescue here in the UK doing vet transport and the like, and I thought the nine I took in my little Berlingo was a lot
    via AyaHawkeye
  • 20
    sadbear424 Hey, I want to share my Neko's story with you. He was adopted by our family in April. He came from an overflow shelter in Mississippi. We don't know a lot about him, other than he was a year old when we got him, very shy, and had spent most of his life in a shelter.
    via sadbear424
  • 21
    Today, he's happy and chonky (working in that). He's learned to purr again, play, and sit with people. He just recently started sleeping with us at night! His story is a story of people like you making this world a happier place. Thank you for the work you do!
    via sadbear424
  • 22
    rvdms 45 cats? You're freaken amazing! What a bunch of rockstars. Seriously. Thank you so much for transporting these babies and saving their lives.
    via rvdms
  • 23
    Electrical-Debt5369 So, how do you resist just keeping them all and going Crazy cat person? Because I couldn't
    via Electrical-Debt5369
  • 24
    Cali-retreat Thank you for helping them along their way to a better life! You and your friend are much needed and this internet stranger hopes you have a bountiful and healthy life, sending you all the hugs!!
    via Cali-retreat

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heartwarming abandoned animal rescue foster cats cat rescue forever home animal shelter Cats animals
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