A woman from Texas helped a feral cat and her four babies when they needed it the most, and now all of her efforts are finally paying back.
In a video shared on TikTok on Saturday, under the username @jobiquin, the 27-year-old from Fort Worth can be seen sitting on the floor with the cat, sharing a sweet moment together, as the feline finally agrees to pets and cuddle time.
“Watch the feral cat I took in (with her 4 babies) finally let me love her,” says a caption shared along with the viral video.
@jobiquin via TikTok
Quin told Newsweek that she and her family named the cat Agatha because she reminds them of Agatha from the Vikings show, and how brave and courageous the character was.
“She had to be brave surviving out there in the wild. She is actually a very sweet cat. You can tell she wants to be loved. She didn’t give any fuss when I put her little cat collar on her. I feel like she knew it was hers and it meant she was ours,” she said.
She explained that Aggie, short for Agatha, first came into their lives when she wandered into their neighbors’ backyard around March-April, before disappearing again. “She has two indoor/outdoor cats and we like to joke that they told Aggie about their house,” she said.
At the time, they noticed the feline was less than a year old and she looked terrified of humans, mainly hanging out with the neighbors’ cats in their backyard. After having her first litter in April, the feline was nowhere to be found, so the poster and her neighbors fostered the kittens until they all found a loving home.
“My neighbor tried for MONTHS to catch Aggie but couldn’t and she fell pregnant again. The day she gave birth on August 11, her husband caught her and all the kittens and gave them to us to foster,” she said.
While it’s taken time, Aggie has now learned to trust the poster, and she barely even hisses at her anymore.
“She really loves those squeezable treats and that really helped. I would put it on my finger and let her lick a little at a time. Slowly I would pet her while doing it. Of course she hissed at me every time she saw me up until this weekend actually,” she said.
“However, when she saw me come into the room she would come straight to my hand to sniff and see if I had any of the treat on my finger. Now the past week she just comes up to me and lets me pet her. I can tell she really trusts me because her kittens didn’t trust me at all either till they realized their mom did.”
As much as the poster and her family would love to keep all of her kittens, they won’t be able to, since they already own another cat, Leo, and three dogs, Duke, Chief, and Mac. However, they are keeping Aggie.
“You can tell Aggie just wants to be loved. She is just a baby that was lost in the world and we want to be that safe place for her that she knows she is going to be loved and cared for. We plan to get her fixed and take care of till she is comfortable with us. You can tell she misses outside,” she said.
“Our neighbors inside/outside cats Itty bitty, Max and Zelda (Zelda is actually her daughter from her first litter our neighbors kept) were actually really good friends and hung out. So we will let her outside once she is fixed (with a collar and location device) and we are hoping she chooses us the same way we chose her.”
Befriending a stray or feral cat takes time and patience, but as the video shows, it’s an incredibly rewarding experience. When coming across a lonely cat outdoors, it’s important to see if it’s feral first, so that you can prepare to approach the situation in the best way.
British animal charity Blue Cross explains that feral cats have not been socialized and live outdoors like wild cats. Because they’re usually very scared of people, it’s best to just leave them alone.
Lost and stray cats are usually more friendly and don’t shy away from people, in fact, they tend to roam around homes.
Before taking a stray in, you should always take them to your local vet and check if they’re micro-chipped and already have a home.
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 1.6 million views and 458,600 likes on the platform.
One user, Alyssa, commented: “Winning the heart of a feral cat is the most beautiful feeling.”
User3885646772878 said: “I don’t think non-cat people understand what it means to gain the trust of a feral cat, it’s not easy & when it happens it’s so incredibly beautiful.”
Alexis Moreno added: “Feral cats are just mean cause that’s all they’ve ever known, but once u show them the slightest bit of love they show u the same.”
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