I moved into a house where the previous owner left behind their outdoor cat, so obviously we adopted her and continued feeding her in the laundry shed. A while later, I started hearing cat fights at night and around the same time a phantom alarm/smoke detector battery chirp going off occasionally. I investigate the laundry room and discovered a black kitten with the squeakiest voice.
Now, we don’t need another cat. We brought our indoor cat to the new house, happily adopted the preexisting tabby, but three cats is too many. Plus, the elder outdoor cat doesn’t seem to enthused by the kitten’s arrival.
I trap the kitten, bring her to the monthly cat spay/adoption event at the vet. Off to a loving home, I thought. THREE MONTHS LATER, cat fights at night, phantom squeaky sounds. The cat is back, this time with a clipped ear. Again the two outdoor cats just spat. My partner feels protective of the preexisting cat, because she *was* here first.
A few months later, a friend mentions their elderly black cat died and they’re looking for a black kitten. Friend, you are in luck! We have a spare black kitten! Give the kitten to the friend. It lasts approximately 4 hours before escaping the house. You guessed it, a month later that squeaky cat is back.
When I was working at a farmers market (where animals are not allowed) one of the vendors told me a kitten from their acreage had hitched a ride with them on their truck fuel tank (which is under the truck). It was a 2.5h drive on highways and he should not have survived, but he did and I took him home with me after they told me I could have him if I wanted. His name is Salem, and he’s now just over 2 years old! If I could attach a photo I would, but he’s a black cat with green eyes :)
My friend had been seeing a ginger cat hanging out in her garden shed a lot. A neighbour told her a previous tenant got evicted and left him. One day while I'm visiting her, he struts into her flat, rubs himself up against my legs and refused to leave. He's been my best friend for 12 years now.
When I was seventeen, a cat started to follow my sister and I home. For two days. Clearly not owned (before microchips and no collar) and just settled into the house with another cat like he was always supposed to be there.
The second involves my child. We went to a rescue to adopt a cat (or two). The shelter has an open cat floor. This cat starts to follow us. Every time my kid tries to pet another cat, this one is head butting. When we sit on the bench, he climbs into my kid's lap like he belongs there. Of course we take him and his brother home.
This cat is shy and skitterish. Took him two days to come out of hiding when we brought him home. Two years later he is much more relaxed but pets absolutely only happen on his terms. His brother is more like the cat we saw at the shelter.
But it's very clear he was chosen for us by the cat distribution system.
I’ve never heard of this before but it’s the cutest, and the reason I currently have a cat. He wandered into my garden one day all malnourished, so I fed him of course. He kept coming back again and again so I got him neutered with the help of a charity ( to help stop the problem), and he never left. He’s the most affectionate cat I’ve ever known. Thanks universe ✨
When I was in college and in the process of moving into an on campus apartment, I left the door cracked while I went to the truck/car to get another load. I came back to the door wide open and I search the apartment (totally freaking out) and find an orange Tom cat curled up in the living room like he belongs there. He stayed with us the whole year we were in that apartment. When we were moving out he made a run for it (had never tried to leave before, never run for the door, never even went out on the balcony) and we never saw him again.
I haven’t heard about this before but omg it’s so true. My parents moved to a new town a few years ago and one day this cat started coming over regularly and they started feeding her. They realised she was pregnant. She gave birth to 4 kittens in our garden and kinda made her home base there and my parents kept on feeding all of them. Eventually all the kittens left but the mom stayed and now she’s fully adopted, vaccinated etc and the most loved member of the family. And honestly she’s the cutest and most loyal cat I’ve ever met I’m obsessedddd
After a full year of no alcohol, getting a business off the ground, working through monumental greif, battling with my addictive personality, working so hard everyday on being me again. Its been a very intense 2 years each for opposite reasons as the other. I went from drinking and partying literally every day to self isolating and owing my own business while being happily sober. Then out of nowhere I was blessed with a calico cat. she had been living on my porch and garge for quite some time. i built her a decent shelter late one night when it was pouring outside. the next morning i opened the door and she ran about 4 feet and stopped and turned around, and casually walked inside and rubbed her head on me. she slept for the next 3 days always within sight of me. that was 2 months ago on the day. Today, 2 months after I was adopted by this cat i brought her to the vet, only to find out that there will be 3 more in 2 weeks. Also prior to this happeneing i had been deathly allergic to cats for my entire life, so i stocked up on allergy meds, it turns out im not allergic to her at all, it has been a humorous suprise gift throughout and i dont expect that to stop.
I think the distribution is wider ranging than literally having cats walk into your home. One of our cats is a classic case of cat distribution system: He followed my spouse home, but then got scared off. I went downstairs with food and a carrier and he hoped in. Another cat was found as a kitten in a parking lot by a friend who couldn't keep him, but we could. A third was rescued from a shelter. I was grieving because the senior cat had died and I felt compelled to rescue a gray cat. The cat I saw online had just been adopted but the system hadn't updated. I asked if they had any other gray cats and the cat distribution was ready to handle my request. He is a beautiful boy, but shy and probably wouldn't have been an easy adoption; plus he got kitty herpes at the shelter and had symptoms when I took him and had to be isolated for a week. I'm sure he would've been put down if the distribution system hadn't been working that day!
My family has had 2 from this system. Would also like to start this by saying that my dad does not like cats, thinks they are pests, messy etc. Well in the late 90's he was working as a builder and found a kitten in their materials storage and "couldn't leave him there" so he came home. He was a black cat and got called Wednesday because dad found him on a... Wednesday (very original). We eventually moved cities and the cat stayed with the neighbor as he used to go to her house all the time (CDS strikes again).
Second cat was around 2010ish. Dad owns a shop in an industrial area that backs onto railway tracks. One day hears a noise from outside and a kitten has appeared. Only way for him to have got into the area he was in is by squeezing through a tiny gap in the wall from the railway tracks. We named him Diesel and he has been with us ever since.
So for a dad who doesn't like cats, the cat distribution system just keeps on giving.
My family cat back around 2007 was a result of the “CDS” although we didn’t have a name for it back then 😂 she passed away while I was in college just 4 years ago. She was a cutie, was mostly an outdoor cat and we sometimes believed she had another family in the neighborhood that likely also took care of her as she would be gone for long hours or days 😅 we would bring her inside when it was cold most of winter but my dad was slightly allergic so it was not most of the year. But then in 2014 we got a big dog and they didn’t get along so she was almost exclusively outdoor after that. She was a strong girl who was great and happy at being an outdoor cat. She got really sick in 2018/19 I think it was and she would come up to my car when I would get home from college and cuddle and purr and be so comforting. Little did I know a few weeks later it was because she was getting sick and I think she knew this and was saying her goodbyes over the last month or so. I miss her still 😔🩷
i moved into a house where the previous owner had fed the many neighborhood feral cats, so they showed up day 1 looking for their food and we took over the duties. they were all clearly feral and didn't want to be inside - until this gray cat with a flea collar on showed up and tried to follow me into the house every time i went inside. after checking around, no owner was found, no chip, so after feeding him for months i scooped him up when i moved. embarrassingly i named him gerald/jerry after the white rapper g-eazy, a different time in my life haha.
i got his orange himbo brother felix when my roommate's parent's outdoor cat had kittens, and they have an uneasy detente where felix tries to bully him daily and jerry leaps atop the counters where 20lb felix cannot follow.
I moved into a house where the previous owner left behind their outdoor cat, so obviously we adopted her and continued feeding her in the laundry shed. A while later, I started hearing cat fights at night and around the same time a phantom alarm/smoke detector battery chirp going off occasionally. I investigate the laundry room and discovered a black kitten with the squeakiest voice.
Now, we don’t need another cat. We brought our indoor cat to the new house, happily adopted the preexisting tabby, but three cats is too many. Plus, the elder outdoor cat doesn’t seem to enthused by the kitten’s arrival.
I trap the kitten, bring her to the monthly cat spay/adoption event at the vet. Off to a loving home, I thought. THREE MONTHS LATER, cat fights at night, phantom squeaky sounds. The cat is back, this time with a clipped ear. Again the two outdoor cats just spat. My partner feels protective of the preexisting cat, because she *was* here first.
A few months later, a friend mentions their elderly black cat died and they’re looking for a black kitten. Friend, you are in luck! We have a spare black kitten! Give the kitten to the friend. It lasts approximately 4 hours before escaping the house. You guessed it, a month later that squeaky cat is back.
We are now officially a three cat household.
When I was working at a farmers market (where animals are not allowed) one of the vendors told me a kitten from their acreage had hitched a ride with them on their truck fuel tank (which is under the truck). It was a 2.5h drive on highways and he should not have survived, but he did and I took him home with me after they told me I could have him if I wanted. His name is Salem, and he’s now just over 2 years old! If I could attach a photo I would, but he’s a black cat with green eyes :)
My friend had been seeing a ginger cat hanging out in her garden shed a lot. A neighbour told her a previous tenant got evicted and left him. One day while I'm visiting her, he struts into her flat, rubs himself up against my legs and refused to leave. He's been my best friend for 12 years now.
Two stories:
When I was seventeen, a cat started to follow my sister and I home. For two days. Clearly not owned (before microchips and no collar) and just settled into the house with another cat like he was always supposed to be there.
The second involves my child. We went to a rescue to adopt a cat (or two). The shelter has an open cat floor. This cat starts to follow us. Every time my kid tries to pet another cat, this one is head butting. When we sit on the bench, he climbs into my kid's lap like he belongs there. Of course we take him and his brother home.
This cat is shy and skitterish. Took him two days to come out of hiding when we brought him home. Two years later he is much more relaxed but pets absolutely only happen on his terms. His brother is more like the cat we saw at the shelter.
But it's very clear he was chosen for us by the cat distribution system.
Wishing we could share photos of the cat distribution system working I have so many holiday cat photos 🙏🏼
I’ve never heard of this before but it’s the cutest, and the reason I currently have a cat. He wandered into my garden one day all malnourished, so I fed him of course. He kept coming back again and again so I got him neutered with the help of a charity ( to help stop the problem), and he never left. He’s the most affectionate cat I’ve ever known. Thanks universe ✨
When I was in college and in the process of moving into an on campus apartment, I left the door cracked while I went to the truck/car to get another load. I came back to the door wide open and I search the apartment (totally freaking out) and find an orange Tom cat curled up in the living room like he belongs there. He stayed with us the whole year we were in that apartment. When we were moving out he made a run for it (had never tried to leave before, never run for the door, never even went out on the balcony) and we never saw him again.
I haven’t heard about this before but omg it’s so true. My parents moved to a new town a few years ago and one day this cat started coming over regularly and they started feeding her. They realised she was pregnant. She gave birth to 4 kittens in our garden and kinda made her home base there and my parents kept on feeding all of them. Eventually all the kittens left but the mom stayed and now she’s fully adopted, vaccinated etc and the most loved member of the family. And honestly she’s the cutest and most loyal cat I’ve ever met I’m obsessedddd
After a full year of no alcohol, getting a business off the ground, working through monumental greif, battling with my addictive personality, working so hard everyday on being me again. Its been a very intense 2 years each for opposite reasons as the other. I went from drinking and partying literally every day to self isolating and owing my own business while being happily sober. Then out of nowhere I was blessed with a calico cat. she had been living on my porch and garge for quite some time. i built her a decent shelter late one night when it was pouring outside. the next morning i opened the door and she ran about 4 feet and stopped and turned around, and casually walked inside and rubbed her head on me. she slept for the next 3 days always within sight of me. that was 2 months ago on the day. Today, 2 months after I was adopted by this cat i brought her to the vet, only to find out that there will be 3 more in 2 weeks. Also prior to this happeneing i had been deathly allergic to cats for my entire life, so i stocked up on allergy meds, it turns out im not allergic to her at all, it has been a humorous suprise gift throughout and i dont expect that to stop.
I think the distribution is wider ranging than literally having cats walk into your home. One of our cats is a classic case of cat distribution system: He followed my spouse home, but then got scared off. I went downstairs with food and a carrier and he hoped in. Another cat was found as a kitten in a parking lot by a friend who couldn't keep him, but we could. A third was rescued from a shelter. I was grieving because the senior cat had died and I felt compelled to rescue a gray cat. The cat I saw online had just been adopted but the system hadn't updated. I asked if they had any other gray cats and the cat distribution was ready to handle my request. He is a beautiful boy, but shy and probably wouldn't have been an easy adoption; plus he got kitty herpes at the shelter and had symptoms when I took him and had to be isolated for a week. I'm sure he would've been put down if the distribution system hadn't been working that day!
My family has had 2 from this system. Would also like to start this by saying that my dad does not like cats, thinks they are pests, messy etc. Well in the late 90's he was working as a builder and found a kitten in their materials storage and "couldn't leave him there" so he came home. He was a black cat and got called Wednesday because dad found him on a... Wednesday (very original). We eventually moved cities and the cat stayed with the neighbor as he used to go to her house all the time (CDS strikes again).
Second cat was around 2010ish. Dad owns a shop in an industrial area that backs onto railway tracks. One day hears a noise from outside and a kitten has appeared. Only way for him to have got into the area he was in is by squeezing through a tiny gap in the wall from the railway tracks. We named him Diesel and he has been with us ever since.
So for a dad who doesn't like cats, the cat distribution system just keeps on giving.
My family cat back around 2007 was a result of the “CDS” although we didn’t have a name for it back then 😂 she passed away while I was in college just 4 years ago. She was a cutie, was mostly an outdoor cat and we sometimes believed she had another family in the neighborhood that likely also took care of her as she would be gone for long hours or days 😅 we would bring her inside when it was cold most of winter but my dad was slightly allergic so it was not most of the year. But then in 2014 we got a big dog and they didn’t get along so she was almost exclusively outdoor after that. She was a strong girl who was great and happy at being an outdoor cat. She got really sick in 2018/19 I think it was and she would come up to my car when I would get home from college and cuddle and purr and be so comforting. Little did I know a few weeks later it was because she was getting sick and I think she knew this and was saying her goodbyes over the last month or so. I miss her still 😔🩷
i moved into a house where the previous owner had fed the many neighborhood feral cats, so they showed up day 1 looking for their food and we took over the duties. they were all clearly feral and didn't want to be inside - until this gray cat with a flea collar on showed up and tried to follow me into the house every time i went inside. after checking around, no owner was found, no chip, so after feeding him for months i scooped him up when i moved. embarrassingly i named him gerald/jerry after the white rapper g-eazy, a different time in my life haha.
i got his orange himbo brother felix when my roommate's parent's outdoor cat had kittens, and they have an uneasy detente where felix tries to bully him daily and jerry leaps atop the counters where 20lb felix cannot follow.
most of my cats were adopted/rescued, but my fantastic, lovely, intelligent giuseppe boy arrived on my porch during a very snowy january two years ago
I've literally been blessed 3 cats due to this. They have come to me through different ways. Blessed
My favourite genre of tiktok videos is people being chosen by the cat distribution system