Even animal lovers discriminate among animals. Some prefer dogs over cats because of the former's compassionate nature but majorly because of the latter's I-don't-give-a-damn-about-anything attitude. Cats can really be mean and uncaring at times, that's a universally acknowledged fact. But there are some cats who do not fit the 'catty' description or attitude expected from them. Believe it or not, some cats are known to like snuggling with their owners and even RESPOND to their attention. But this particular act was acting too weird, even for a cat.
It is a well-known fact that cats are not too hot on socializing. Even after having kittens, they leave them be, out in the world only after a few months. They do not travel in packs, in fact, they fight among themselves for territory, just like other members of their family. Lions, tigers, Cheetahs, all the members of the cat family are known to love their isolation and are isolated creatures.
There have been researches to understand the behavior of cats, and this is the moment cat owners stop reading this slide because to state in simple words, cats have trust issues, so they don't rely on their owners for security like dogs do. Obviously there are exceptional cases but generally, they do not really care about anything or anyone if they are being properly fed and tended to.
Dogs can be trained to fetch balls, bring newspapers, sit, stand, roll and what not but cats will, as a rule, resist any form of imposed submissiveness. When you get a cat home, THEY are the boss because you will find yourself giving all your attention to them and they only time you will get attention is when you dared to sleep during their food time. Your world will be revolving around your cat(s) and you won't even get to know w hen you become the pet.
Cats do love isolation but attention and affection are natural needs. Even cats crave attention. That is the reason why they goof around your house and shatter stuff- that's their peculiar way of getting attention and some cats do love to be petted. Stray cats are mostly street bosses of animals on road, even scaring all dogs and avoiding humans but some cats don't live up to their (in)famous reputation.
Life isn't easy on the streets for humans or animals. Pet cats are all pampered and attended too but strays have to fight for their survival, that is partially why they are so aggressive. Stray cats even though not expressive are always thankful for the food that humans give them. But this particular cat, even though wanting food, never ate it, when the people around found out what she did with the cat food, they were awed.
This Korean woman, who is a volunteer help at a local animal shelter made sure to distribute high-quality cat food to any feral cat she found in her neighborhood. She was a familiar face among the cats and they soon lost their timidity or fear of her and waited for the time of the day she would come with their meal. However, there was one tabby cat who stood out for a peculiar reason.
This woman was a volunteer with a local shelter, she decided to take custody of all the streets cats, not officially though. She just went out at particular times of the day and offered food to these cats and once these kitties got to know about this woman offering food they all cluttered around her, they even liked to be petted by her which is rare for street cats. They do not trust humans easily. The woman, however, was attached to this one act who started acting strangely.
The neighborhood did not seem to mind this woman feeding cats. They were actually secretly relieved because now there kitchens would not be invaded by these feral uninvited guests who sneaked in to look for food. This was a win-win for everyone. But there was one tabby cat which started acting oddly. It had been coming for meals, like other cats but something changed.
Dongsook (pronounced Dungsuk), like all other cats, turned up during the fixed meal time. The woman liked her and Dongsook let the woman pet her. She ate the all natural dry cat food from the bowl like other cats, but something changed after some time. The tabby cat started turning away from the bowl of food the woman gave her. It started perplexing the woman and she started getting concerned about Dongsook's health.
Concerned now that Dongsook was not getting the required nutrients for her survival, the woman thought of trying something different. She brought different dry high-quality cat food for her and tried offering it but it was to no avail. Every day, Dongsook turned her head away from the cat food bowl, no matter what kind of natural dry cat food was kept for her. The confusion of the Korean woman only intensified.
Really worried now about one of her favorite cats, the woman tried doing what she never did before. She thought of getting healthiest wet cat food for Dongsook. She kept Dongsook separate from all other cats and when they were gone she told Dongsook to take a bite from the wet cat food bowl but she just looked at the woman and meowed. Then something weird happened.
If you have pet cats or know someone who does you'd know that their isolation loving nature also renders them secretive. Every member of the cat family appears mysterious. Cats often choose a spot and hide stuff there. They aren't like dogs, wanting to share every achievement or make their troubles very apparent. Obviously, there was something up with Dongsook but she made no signs of letting anyone know. But the woman had to find out the reason behind Dongsook's changing behavior, not eating food, was definitely not a good sign.
From one hand she was pointing Dongsook to the healthiest wet cat food and in the other hand, the Korean woman held the plastic bag in which was kept the all natural dry cat food for other cats. What Dongsook did surprised and confused the woman even more. Instead of eating the wet food, she knocked the healthy dry cat food bag from the woman’s hand, held it in her mouth and scrambled away.
The first explanation that the woman could come up with, was the Dongsook was saving the food for later. But why had she not eaten the same cat food from the bowl earlier? It was confusing but the woman decided to let the cat have the food the way she liked. This was to become a new and regular thing for the both of them now, but what was the tabby cat actually doing with the bag of cat food?
Now that the woman knew how Dongsook wanted her healthy wet food, she made sure to prepare a separate cat food bag for her every day. All cats used to eat from a food bowl but as soon as Dongsook got her bag of food, she scurried away, without having eaten a morsel. The woman had thought that this behavior would stop someday but it didn’t, so she decided to play detective.
In order to see whether this accepting the cat food in a bag was peculiar just to Dongsook, the woman did a little experiment. She packed many little plastic bags and offered the food in the manner to other cats. The others simply turned away from the plastic bag, clearly wanting to be served as usual, in the cat food bowl. This made the behavior of Dongsook stand out even more.
But the curiosity got the better of the cat, I mean the woman. She told a few other volunteers about this peculiar behavior of Dongsook and they decided to follow the cat one day to see, what she ACTUALLY did with the cat food. Now, the humans can’t get through the nooks and corners like cats can, so they could not have actually followed her footsteps over buildings. So they came up with a plan.
No, the cat did not HAVE a secret lover but cats by nature are secretive. The volunteers did not want to scare away the cat forever and dry out her only source of food. There is no knowing how the cat would have reacted if she found herself being followed by humans. She might have tricked them and changed destination and the woman could never have gotten to the bottom of it all.
To make sure that the cat is not frightened for perpetuity, the volunteers decided to set a distant trail to follow the cat's movement, they all made videos and when finally they combined them, things started to make sense. They followed her from the spot she came to get the food, found out the path she took to cut over the houses and finally along with her reached to a building as shown in the video ahead.
After taking different paths and crossing over houses, the cat finally arrived at the entry of an old building and started pacing there. She did not open the food bag or sit with it. She was clearly waiting for someone anxiously. It was not until she meowed continuously that the volunteers could make sense of her instance of accepting cat food only in the plastic bag.
Answering her calls, not from too far, a kitten cam excitedly, obviously familiar with the meowing. It was the kitten that Dongsook wished to feed and so that it becomes easier to deliver, she accepted the food only in bags. Why did Dongsook go to all the length to provide for one kitten? There is a heart-breaking reason behind it.
When the volunteers enquired about the cat from the residents of the building, they got to know that some time ago Dongsook had given birth to 5 kittens but because of some unfortunate tragedy or a disease, all died except one. And where did she keep it?
Dongsook could not protect all her little ones because she had to go out looking for food and could not be with them 24 hours. But she made sure the one that was left alive remained so. So she took the kitten to a small spot in the old building where only she could reach it.
Dongsook’s action and the reason behind her peculiar behavior now became clear to the volunteers and most of them were left in tears. They were determined now to help this distressed cat and kitten in any way they could but it wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
The volunteers knew that the two cute feral cats were vulnerable and not completely safe out in the open but when they were approached, the kitten was scared and would not leave its mother’s side. That alerted Dongsook too and she became very protective of her little one.
Well aware of the motherly instincts of animals the volunteers decided to take things slow and approach the mother kid duo cautiously. They wanted to take them to instant care but they saw that the kitten was clearly apprehensive about being touched or approached. So they did the little they could right there.
Since they could not take the cats to a new home, the volunteers decided to bring the coziness of home to the cats. They got a blanket and spread it on the spot where the cat and the kitten usually lay. This obviously would have kept them warm and they can be seen all snuggled up against each other.
Dongsook knew the volunteers and the Korean woman. Afterall she was the one from whom she got the food with the help of which she could take care of her only surviving kitten. She understood that the volunteers had her best interest at heart and was therefore not scared of them, but that wasn’t the case with the kitten.
Initially, when the volunteers came to Dongsook’s residence to feed her and her kitten the latter usually hid behind her or the blanket but then, even the kitten warmed up to the humans, and now they could think of their steps ahead.
Any stray animal would be alerted if an equipment like this was operated around it but Dongsook and the kitten had gotten comfortable around the humans by now and trusted them enough to not harm them and the net was actually to carry them to a new place as the video shows.
Cats are not known to be very attached to their young ones for a long time but Dongsook stood as an exception, maybe because she had lost four other kittens she grew extra protective of this one but volunteers made sure that they have no other harsh experience. Therefore they took them out of the old building.
The kitten and Dongsook had to be carried in nets so that they did not scurry away. They did not seem too happy about it but did not mind it much either, soon they arrived at a little safe haven as can be seen in the video ahead but this is not how things ended.
Now that Dongsook and the kitten were in a shelter, safe, secure and warm and the former no longer had to worry about getting food for the little one, there was no need of plastic bags. They both got food separately in different bowls. They are currently in an animal shelter.
The cats are currently waiting to be adopted in new homes where they could receive the love and care they deserve. Now, they both have separate shelters too, because even though attached to each other, cats do love their isolation.
After reading this story, many would change their perception of cats. They aren’t as cruel little beasts as some people think them to be. Well, they are but not all of them. Lesson to be learned from the video ahead is that the natures of animals should not be generalized, they can end up surprising you.
The video of this cat mother, daily walking the distance to get food for her little one has gained more than 2 million views online. The story is so touching, the numbers are not surprising. The video is posted in the next slide.
https://youtu.be/cH8Wya0WiuE
Here is the heart touching video of Dongsook and her journey from the tragedy she had to the loving home she is currently in.
The motherly act of this cat and her warmth and acceptance of humans prove that not all cats are as indifferent as people collectively make them out to be.