Feline foster mom rescues a “mama” cat and her kittens, until her vet lifts the tail to reveal two terrible troublepuffs and one very misidentified cat

Blake Seidel • Lead Editor

May 31, 2026 7:00 PM EDT

What would you do if you accidentally stole a cat?

We've seen some hissterical feline mixups in our time as writers for I Can Has Cheezburger. Pawrents thinking their lost cat has come home, only to realize that it's not "their" cat at all, twin-like cats getting adopted by the opposite family, etc. But this story takes the cake, or should we say, the "troublepuffs".

Minh, the feline foster mom, documented her hilarious story in Reddit's r/Cats subreddit for all of us cat connoisseurs to giggle at. She heartwarmingly opened her house to a mama cat and her two kittens until they could find homes for them. When she went to pick them up at the shelter, "mama cat" did not want to be touched, so she just let her get into the traveling carrier without much thought.

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Fast forward to their vet appointment, and her vet went to examine this “mama cat", and what did they see? Two dangling troublepuffs. A full set of the family jewels. Mama cat was not a mama, nor was she even a female! Turns out this orange tomcat just went along for the ride, and she realized she had potentially cat-napped a random tomcat.
The best part about it, though? He loves the kittens. He may not be the dad, but he certainly is the dad who stepped up.
Let this story be a reminder to all of us that family isn't something that is defined by what's in your veins, but what's in your heart. A lot of us have to choose our own family, and that family might be better than the one we were born into. Cheers to all the tomcats who are loving dads at heart!
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We always say that cats and their hoomans are like wands and wizards in Harry Potter. In Harry Potter, the wand chooses the wizard, and we think it kind of works the same way with cats and their future pawrents. It's ultimately the cat's decision if they want to live with you, and this orange tomcat chose to live with his foster mom and the two kittens, of which he had no relation. He had no reason to join them or pretend to be their mother, but he did it anyway. Why? Because he chose it.
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