New tenants discover that the cat colony they live next to has left a house warming gift for them in the form of a sick kitten in desperate need of a home

Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky
Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor
Nov 10, 2026 4:45 PM EST

Cats might not speak our language, but they certainly know how to recognize cat people.

Over the years, as humans have taken over more and more of the world, even stray cats have learned a thing or two about us. They know we're not all the same. Some humans can be kind of mean, and unfortunately, that means cats are often wary of us. But they've also learned that there are good humans out there. The kind who leave food and water for them, make sure they're safe, and are always willing to lend a helping paw. And let's be honest, when you're a stray cat fighting for food and shelter, these kinds of humans are worth keeping around. The best servants, if you ask any cat. So, when a little sick kitten needs help, and the colony can't provide it, it makes sense that their first instinct might be to turn to the kind humans nearby. 

That's exactly what makes today's story so heartwarming. Imagine being a little cat colony, noticing that new people have moved into the empty house next door and realizing that these are not just any people. Two new residents, each walking in with a cat carrier in hand. Now, if that isn't a sign from the CDS, then we don't know what is. Two new purrfect servants. And the colony decided that these were the right people to trust with a very special housewarming gift - a sick little kitten who desperately needed a home. 

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    "The cat colony next door left a house warming gift on our doorstep"

    CATS OUT T LET OPS IN
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    My boyfriend and I got our first apartment together back in August. We already came locked and loaded with a cat each, my 9 year old grumpy fluffy tortie, and his sassy 4 year old tuxedo! We never wanted to get another cat.
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    DONT LET The COPS IN
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    I'm a barista for a living and he's a pizza delivery driver. We're both juniors in college so it never crossed our minds to go out and find a cat. So when we moved in, it was just the four of us and our student loan debt getting us through school. Of course that is until we moved in and our neighbors just so happened to be a cat colony.
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    We go to a school in a small town in Missouri. The only shelters they have are k I shelters, no non profits, and no one who cares enough to handle the overwhelming cat colony that runs this part of the town. So, me and my boyfriend started to befriend the kitties.
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    PECTED BY
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    We left food and water out for them, we washed the bowls everyday, and g d forbid we didn't pet them (we totally did). That is when a peculiar pair became our consistent regulars. A small kitty and a kitten. We named them mama and pretty boy, because we had to reference them somehow.
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    CT MY
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    There is also big daddy, big papa, big pimp (rip tho ☹), evil Larry, Elizabeth, and the newest one is Fred. Anywho!! After awhile the pair stopped being a pair and mama came and went every once awhile, but pretty boy was there EVERY DAY! This baby fell asleep on our doorstep everyday for a week before I gave up.
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  • They knew. The cats in the colony. They saw you two come in, each with a cat carrier in hand, and they knew that they had some good people on their doorstep. And they tested you right away. It's your fault though. We wholeheartedly blame you. You basically asked for it when you responded to their call so quickly. Food, changing their water bowls every day… that's basically a cat shelter. People think that stray cats don't understand humans because they have never had real contact with them, but that's so wrong. They understand humans more than enough to know that the good humans… are willing to do literally anything and everything for them. And we are. We really are. When a cat person sees a cat in need, something in our brain switches, and we simply cannot leave it be. And that's how we end up adopting another one. And another one. And another-

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    DOR CA U ON'T LET The COPS IN
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    After many nights crying at my boyfriend, and him agreeing, we made a vet appointment. I was not about to bring pretty boy inside without checking for feline aids and leukemia.
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    Also at this appointment, pretty boy is not a boy, but a girl!! We got her shots, her first round of dewormer, and she was home!! We kept her seperated from the other kitties for the night, and she was home!
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    That following Saturday everything went wrong. We had overlooked the smallest scratch and it became fected. Her foot swelled up very quickly overnight and she could not walk on it. There were no open vets within area until Monday, unless we made a 2 hour drive to the city.
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    My boyfriend and I are not rich, we work on weekends and can't afford a day off. We decided to ride out the weekend and ditch classes on Monday to bring her to a non profit vet 45 minutes away first thing Monday morning. Monday morning while we were waiting to be seen her paw ruptured.
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    We were rushed back immediately and she was treated. That was the most foul smell I have ever smelt in my life, but I was not disgusted. I felt guilty for not doing something sooner.
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    She healed within a week. Her paw was fully closed by the next time we took her to the vet for her dewormer and he cleared her 100% healed!! I can only imagine if we didn't take her in when we did that Friday before her paw swelled up.
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    I would not have been able to live with myself. But now I get to live with her, my boyfriend, old lady cat, and my sassy gay tux. Life is swell and joyous. She keeps us on our toes and she makes sure to bite them.
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    Please say hello and adore the one and only: Yuso Purrty Fettuccine Peter. Or just Purrty for short.
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