Cats can often be aloof, choosing to lavish their affection on only a chosen few.
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When a striped tomcat wandered into Anastasia’s garden in Sheffield, England, she assumed he would become just another homeless stray in her neighborhood. She is already in the habit of feeding strays, so she put some extra food out for him and went on with her day.
The next morning, the cat was back. While he remained out of her reach, he started coming right up to her window and meowing every single day.
“He was so angry but so funny at the same time,” Anastasia said. Since he was the only stray who stayed in her yard at night, she began giving him more food and attention and named him Tiger.
When the weather grew colder, Anastasia worried about him. She went out and bought a cat house, put it together, and placed it outside near her window. She wasn’t sure if Tiger would use it or turn up his nose at it, but she didn’t have to wait long to find out!
Tiger made himself right at home in the warm box, and over time, he became more comfortable in Anastasia’s presence.
“I needed to be patient in order to get his trust,” she said. “I was like, ‘C’mon, cat, you have some communication issues!’ I just believe maybe somebody hurt him in the past.”
Soon, Anastasia and her neighbors decided to get the cat examined by a vet to see if he had a microchip. While she had already bonded with him, her landlord does not allow cats, so she went along with the plan to trap him and bring him to an animal shelter. She hoped finding him a forever home would help her recover from the pain of losing him, but she quickly found out that she was more attached to Tiger than she thought.
After visiting him in his foster home and seeing how far he’d come, Anastasia went back to her landlord and begged for an exception to their “no pets” rule. With some time and a few tears, they finally said yes!
“I just noticed that I was thinking about him every day and I really missed him,” Anastasia said. “I was calling the property management and they confirmed that I would be able to adopt him.”
Tiger now lives with Anastasia, the cat mama he chose all by himself! It seems as if he knew exactly which person he wanted to be his human, and he wasn’t going to quit until he got his way!
Share this story to welcome the sweet kitty home.
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