Man Chooses Sweet "Void" Cat Over Others. (One gesture seals it!)...

Most people walk into an animal shelter with a list of traits they're looking for only to walk out with the cat that ultimately chooses them. One man shared his own version of this scenario over on Reddit in r/cats. He walked into a shelter thinking he might leave with a tabby cat, but it was actually a black cat who flipped his decision in a matter of seconds. 🐾🐾 There were three cats he felt drawn to on his visit: two tabbies and one black cat sitting calmly and watching. The choice didn’t come easy until the black cat did something simple and disarming: he rolled over and allowed a belly rub almost immediately. No hesitation. No flinching. Just trust. That cat is now named Leonard and living his best life. His new dad wrote on Reddit, “I'm looking forward to him getting more comfortable with me and explore the rest of the house.” >>> What's a "Void" Cat?... Black cats like Leonard are often called "voids" online. It started as a joke. In certain lighting, their features disappear into a smooth silhouette, like a pair of eyes floating in darkness. But the nickname stuck because it captures something else too. These cats often have a quiet, observant presence. They watch first. Then they decide. >>> The Moment That Changed Everything... If you’ve ever been in a shelter, you know the feeling. You walk in thinking you’ll be rational about it. Then one animal breaks your plan completely. In Leonard’s case, it wasn’t a dramatic moment. No loud meow. No paw reaching through the cage. Just a relaxed roll onto his back and an invitation most cats would never offer a stranger. That small act said everything. >>> People online picked up on it instantly. One commenter wrote, "He loves you already. Leonard is gorgeous." Another added, "Black cats are the best. They are truly the most grateful creatures." There’s something to that. Cats that have lived as strays often develop a different kind of bond once they feel safe, and it seems like Leonard is happy and feeling safe in his forever home. >>> The First Day Home Is Never What You Expect Leonard is about 10 months old. He spent three weeks in the shelter. He is still young and figuring things out. His first day in his new home looked exactly how you’d expect from a former stray. He found the safest place he could think of—under the bed. He stayed there for hours, then quietly emerged to sit by the window. For a moment, it looked like he was settling in. Then a distant dog barked, and he retreated again. He then spent the next few hours with his new pet parent on the bed, sitting by his side. Then, in one moment, he slowly walked into his parent’s lap and sat down, safe and sound. >>> Looking Forward to His New Life... Leonard is still adjusting to his new life in a high-rise apartment. His parent set up a dedicated base camp with food, water and a litter tray in a room in his apartment so that Leonard can adjust in a safe, smaller space before exploring the rest of the home. The approach allows a former stray to process new sounds, like distant dog barks, without feeling overwhelmed by the entire layout of a new home. --- Parade Pets.

Vintage Photos of Cats and Their Humans...

Woman Picks Berries While Orange Cat Rides on Her Back...

Jinx the Cat from the Movie "Meet the Parents"...

Dewey's Grave, --- 100 Years Ago, He Was Only a Cat..

Use Straw, Not Hay in Your Outdoor Cat House...

..And, use the straw that you can get at a feed store or farmer's straw, not the short stemmed straw that's sold for decoration around Halloween time. Short stemmed straw doesn't hold heat and is not fluffy like feed store or farmer's straw is.

The 9 Lives...

How To Be a Good Cat...

Cats Are Healers...

The Cat With No Back Legs...

Trassima cats >>>

· A cat with no back legs was left in a shopping cart at Target with a sign that said "doesn't work right." A Target employee in Fort Worth, Texas, was collecting carts from the parking lot at closing when she found a cat in one of the carts. A small tabby sitting in the basket section of a red Target shopping cart in the far corner of the lot. No carrier. No box. Just a cat in a cart. There was a piece of cardboard leaning against the cart handle. Written in black marker: "Doesn't work right." The cat had no back legs. Both were missing from the hip. Not recently. The stumps were fully healed, covered in smooth fur. She'd been this way for a long time. She was sitting upright in the cart using her front legs for balance, her back end resting flat against the plastic. She was clean. She wasn't thin. Someone had been taking care of her. Someone had been taking care of her and then put her in a shopping cart with a sign that said she doesn't work right. The employee's name was Keisha. She was nineteen. She'd been on cart duty for three hours. She said she almost didn't walk to the far corner of the lot because it was ten minutes to close and those carts could wait until morning. She picked up the cat. The cat grabbed onto her vest with both front paws and held on. Keisha said that was the part she keeps thinking about. Not the sign. Not the cart. The grip. The cat grabbed her like she knew what a person leaving felt like and she wasn't going to let the next one go. Keisha put her in the break room. Her manager said she couldn't keep a cat in the store. Keisha said she's not in the store, she's in the break room. Her manager looked at the sign and the cart and said fine. Keisha took her home after her shift. Her apartment doesn't allow pets. She didn't care. She put the cat on her bed and the cat dragged herself across the comforter using her front legs and settled on the pillow and fell asleep in about thirty seconds. The vet said she was about four years old. Healthy. Well-fed. The leg loss was old — probably from birth or very early injury. No chip. Whoever had her had kept her alive and healthy for four years and then decided she doesn't work right. Keisha named her Cart. Cart moves around the apartment by pulling herself with her front legs. She's fast. Keisha said she was shocked how fast. She said Cart launches herself off the couch and slides across the kitchen floor and it looks like she's been doing it her whole life. Because she has. Keisha looked into a wheelchair — the two-wheeled carts that support a cat's back end. She found one online for a hundred and twenty dollars. She couldn't afford it. She posted on a local Facebook group asking if anyone had a used one. Fourteen people offered to buy her a new one. She got seven Venmo payments in two hours. She told everyone to stop. She said she only needed one. Cart got the wheelchair. She figured it out in one day. She runs now. Front legs pulling, back wheels rolling. She goes from the bedroom to the kitchen in about three seconds. Keisha posted one photo. Cart in the Target shopping cart. The sign leaning against the handle. "Doesn't work right." Next to it she posted a video. Cart in her wheelchair, sprinting across the apartment floor, sliding around the corner into the kitchen at full speed. The caption said: "Someone left her in a Target cart with this sign. She works fine. She works better than fine." Someone in the comments said: "She doesn't work right? She works different. Different isn't broken." That was the line. The cardboard sign is on Keisha's wall. She framed it. Black marker on brown cardboard. "Doesn't work right." Under the frame she wrote one word. Wrong.