A cat everyone assumed belonged back outside had a change of heart after raising her kittens, and slowly, she crept closer until she rewrote her own ending. LaikaCredit: HaleyWhen Laika first arrived at Thrifted Kittens Rescue, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with people. She had been living outside, and every time someone entered the room, she pressed herself into the farthest corner, eyes wide, watching their every move.She made it clear she was only there for one reason: to raise her two babies somewhere safe. She poured everything into her girls, nursing them, bathing them, and keeping them close through every nap, while she herself stayed on high alert.The TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) plan was simple. Once her girls were weaned and thriving, Laika would be spayed and returned outdoors, where she seemed to feel most at home. Credit: Haley"Laika is the definition of conflicted, and we can't blame her," said Haley, feral cat coordinator for Thrifted Kittens Rescue. "She raised two healthy girls, and it was time for her to be returned outside because she was not here for the indoor life while raising her kittens."Some cats have lived outside too long to ever feel comfortable around people, and Laika's rescuers had seen it many times before. Credit: Haley Sometimes the kindest thing to do is let a cat go back to the life it knows, healthy and no longer able to have litter after litter.But after her spay surgery, something in her began to shift. Credit: HaleyHer foster noticed her loosen up little by little. Instead of hiding when someone came in, she started watching them with curiosity rather than fear, then creeping closer, one careful paw at a time."After her surgery, I noticed her loosen up a bit and start to show some interest in my presence," Haley shared with LoveMeow, "besides the fact that she literally pooped her pants when I had to unhook her claw." Credit: HaleyHaley decided to slow down and give her a chance. They sat with her every day, speaking softly and letting her set the pace, and treats became the language between them.At first, a tasty morsel had to be tossed from across the room. Then it could be placed a few feet away. Before long, Laika was gently taking Churu treats right out of a hand, a moment no one thought they would ever see. Credit: HaleyEvery snack taught her the same lesson: people could be friends. Once she realized her humans were on her side, her confidence continued to grow, and the cat who once trembled at footsteps began greeting her caregivers at the door of her room.She still takes her time getting to know someone new, and that is perfectly okay. Each day she grows a little braver, especially when snacks are involved. Credit: Haley Celebrating every small victory with her, whether it is a slow blink, a relaxed stretch in the middle of the room, or a brave sniff of an outstretched hand.Laika even surprised everyone by making a feline friend. When she met a resident cat named Blizzard, she showed genuine interest in him, another sign that this once fearful mama was ready for a life filled with companionship. Credit: Haley "She passed all of my tests and even showed interest in Blizzard, so off she went for adoption," Haley said. "We will never be mad about a surprise friendly feral."The cat who was supposed to disappear back into the outdoors chose people instead.Laika's rescuers spent countless hours sitting quietly on the floor of her room, offering treats, soft words, and endless patience, until the frightened mama finally understood that human hands bring comfort, not harm. She is now healthy, confident, and available for adoption at the Elmbrook Humane Society, a long way from the outdoor life everyone once assumed was her only option.Share this story with your friends. Follow Haley on Instagram @haleyh0l, Thrifted Kittens Rescue (@thriftedkittensrescue), or Facebook for more foster updates, or Elmbrook Humane Society to learn more about adopting Laika.Related Story: After Many Years Outside Cat Tries Home Life for the First Time, Finds Trust, and Never Looks BackLoveMeow may earn a small commission from purchases made through links in this article at no additional cost to you.

Welcome to our Ask Dr. Paola series, where every Monday we bring expert advice straight from Dr. Paola Cuevas (MVZ) to help our readers better understand their cats health and well-being. Whether youre a new pet parent or a seasoned cat lover, Dr. Paola is here to provide answers to your most pressing questions. From nutrition tips and preventive care to troubleshooting common behavioral issues, Dr. Paola is ready to offer insights that will keep your kitty happy, healthy, and feline fine. Stay tuned for expert guidance on a range of topics that matter most to you and your cat, so you can make informed decisions and provide the best possible care for your furry companion. Have a question? Send it in here!HELP! How Much Pee Is Too Much Pee?Hi Dr Paola,My female cat, Kiwi, is 15 years old and has always loved water and drinking it. She eats dry food. Ive noted shes urinating 5 times a day. Is this within range for the amount shes urinating? AngeHi Ange!Five trips to the litter box each day doesnt automatically fall outside the normal range, especially if Kiwi has always loved drinking water and eats a dry food diet. Cats can vary quite a bit in how often they urinate, so the number of visits to the litter box is only one piece of the puzzle. What matters more is whether shes producing unusually large amounts of urine and if her water intake has increased compared to what has always been normal for her.As a general guideline, healthy cats drink around 40 to 60 mL of water per kilogram of body weight each day, although cats eating dry food often drink closer to the higher end of that range because kibble contains very little moisture. Consistently drinking more than 100 mL/kg/day is considered excessive and deserves further investigation. Normal urine production is approximately 20 to 45 mL/kg/day, so for a 4.5 kg (10 lb) cat, thats about 90 to 200 mL of urine per day. Since most pet parents arent measuring urine output, the litter box can provide helpful clues. Five average-sized clumps spread throughout the day could be completely normal, whereas several very large, heavy clumps may suggest shes producing more urine than expected.Because Kiwi is 15 years old, its also worth considering whether this is simply her lifelong habit or a recent change. Increased thirst and urine production are common early signs of conditions such as chronic kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes mellitus, all of which become more common as cats age. If youve noticed shes drinking more than she used to, the urine clumps have become larger, or there have been any other changes in her appetite, weight, or energy level, Id recommend scheduling a veterinary examination. A physical exam, blood work, and a urinalysis can help determine whether her drinking and urination are normal for her or if theres an underlying condition that would benefit from early treatment.I hope this helps! Dr PaolaThis article is a part of our weekly Ask Dr. Paola series Read last weeks questions here: June 29, 2026 Find the full list of past articles here Click here to submit a question Sign up for our weekly newsletter below to get Dr. Paolas advice sent straight to your inbox.

Two orange tabby kitten brothers who each survived their own life-threatening surgeries have decided they will only be adopted together. Lemon and TangerineCredit: AMA Animal RescueFour tiny kittens were found as neonatal babies, just days old, after their mother disappeared and never came back. AMA Animal Rescue out of Brooklyn, NY took in the whole litter and began the long work of round-the-clock bottle-feeding.Two of those kittens have already found their forever homes. Lemon and Tangerine, the brothers left behind, grew up close from the very start, the kind of pair who could never quite settle unless the other was nearby.Each of them nearly lost his life before finding a home. Credit: AMA Animal RescueLemon, the bolder of the two brothers, has always been the one tracking every sound in the house, ears pinned forward, determined not to miss a thing.When he is truly happy, he headbutts anything within reach- chairs, hands, his brother's face- and does not seem to notice or care. Credit: AMA Animal RescueTangerine is more easygoing, with a habit of following wherever his brother leads.He also has a habit that makes his foster laugh every time: the moment anyone sits on the floor, Tangerine flops dramatically onto his side, as if standing a moment longer would ask too much of him. Credit: AMA Animal RescueTheir favorite game has always been trying to conquer the tower of storage bins in the laundry room, one boy scaling straight to the top while the other plots his own climb from below.It was the kind of ordinary kitten mischief that made it easy to forget, for a while, just how fragile their beginning had been. Credit: AMA Animal RescueLemon grew into a happy, loving little boy, chasing toys and settling into a normal kitten routine in his foster home.Then his foster noticed something was wrong. He had begun straining constantly to urinate, and what first looked like mild discomfort quickly became alarming. Credit: AMA Animal RescueA trip to the vet brought devastating news. The diagnosis was more serious than anyone had expected."Lemon was born with a severely abnormal urethra. He has almost no opening to pass urine, forcing him to strain painfully every time he tries to go," AMA Animal Rescue discussed with LoveMeow. "This procedure must be done by a board-certified surgeon only." Credit: AMA Animal RescueWithout treatment, the condition could turn life-threatening. Lemon needed a perineal urethrostomy, a surgery that creates a wider opening for urine to pass, along with an additional procedure to correct a related complication that required surgeons to open his abdomen during the same operation.While Lemon recovered, his brother Tangerine seemed fine, until the morning he suddenly was not. He stopped eating and started acting strange, so his foster rushed him to the vet. Lemon (left) : Tangerine (right)Credit: AMA Animal RescueThe news was worse than anyone feared. Tangerine was diagnosed with a severe intestinal obstruction, and whatever he had swallowed was already lodged deep inside him. He was rushed to an emergency hospital, too weak to undergo surgery right away, and doctors placed a feeding tube through his nose to stabilize him."Tangerine swallowed a large piece of a fake plastic plant that became deeply lodged in his intestines," AMA Animal Rescue said. "The blockage was so severe that surgeons had to remove a portion of his intestines." Credit: AMA Animal RescueEach boy pulled through his own surgery on his own timeline, not side by side but separately, and eventually, two brothers who had each faced down their own emergency were ready for the next chapter.Tangerine's story is a good reminder for anyone with young kittens at home. Kittens explore the world mouth-first, and ordinary household items like string, rubber bands, and artificial plants can turn into a life-threatening emergency if swallowed. Swapping out artificial plants for pet-safe alternatives is one of the easiest precautions a cat household can take. Credit: AMA Animal RescueThey were fully vetted and placed into a foster home together, gentle, affectionate, and easygoing from day one. Cuddling, lounging, and staying within arm's reach of each other quickly became their full-time occupation.Now nearly grown, Lemon and Tangerine still do everything together, eating together, playing together, napping together, and generally staying attached at the hip. They have a way of sleeping with their heads tucked against one another, so close it can be hard to tell where one brother ends and the other begins. Credit: AMA Animal Rescue"If you adopt Lemon without Tangerine, we're pretty sure they'll be filing a formal complaint," AMA Animal Rescue joked. "These two have been inseparable since they were tiny kittens found on the streets as newborns."Even with an entire couch to choose from, they tend to end up on neighboring pillows, just inches apart, each keeping half an eye on the other.Lemon and Tangerine are healthy, inseparable, and living together in Brooklyn, as close as they have ever been. Credit: AMA Animal RescueShare this story with your friends. Follow AMA Animal Rescue on Instagram @amaanimalrescue, Facebook, or YouTube @amaanimalrescue to learn more about Lemon and Tangerine.Related Story: They Take in 2 Kittens in Need, From the Very Beginning, the Cat Brothers Clearly Belong TogetherLoveMeow may earn a small commission from purchases made through links in this article at no additional cost to you.

A tiny gray kitten spent an unknown stretch of time pressed against a concrete barrier along a Las Vegas freeway exit ramp, holding on while traffic rushed past, until one truck driver finally pulled over and changed the direction of his life entirely. FreewayCredit: Homeward Bound Cat AdoptionsCars rushed past at highway speed, one after another, and none of them slowed down. He was barely six weeks old and weighed less than two pounds, a wisp of a thing in a place where nothing that small was ever meant to be.One wrong step and he could have tumbled into traffic. One slip and he could have gone over the wall. Somehow, impossibly, he did neither, gripping that barrier and waiting as if he understood that somewhere in that river of headlights, someone would eventually see him.Someone finally did. A truck driver passing through spotted the small shape clinging to the concrete and made a decision that would change everything. While countless vehicles had already flown by without slowing, he pulled over, stepped out into the roar of the freeway, and scooped the kitten into his arms.The kitten was terrified at first, and after everything he had just survived, it was hard to blame him. But something shifted on the short walk back to the truck, and by the time his rescuer settled into the cab, he was already leaning into gentle pets, as if some part of him understood that the fight was over. Credit: DanajoThat same night, the driver went looking for help. A neighbor on Nextdoor pointed him toward Homeward Bound Cat Adoptions, and he reached out right away, describing the tiny kitten he had pulled off the freeway just hours earlier.The message arrived after hours, so the rescue team did not see it until morning, and then another challenge arose. The driver works nights and sleeps during the day, while the rescue keeps daytime hours, and for a moment it seemed like their schedules could not have been more opposite. Credit: DanajoWhen someone is determined enough to help an animal, a way tends to appear. The rescue team rearranged their morning to make it work, and after some creative back-and-forth to line up a meeting time, the handoff finally happened, and the tiny survivor officially arrived in the rescue's care.They named him Freeway. At only about six weeks old and weighing less than two pounds, he was exactly where he needed to be, heading toward one of the rescue's foster homes to grow bigger, stronger, and safer than he had ever been. Credit: DanajoFreeway has a habit of chirping at anything that moves and swatting first, asking questions later the kind of attitude that makes it clear he already knows everything. It is the same grit that got him through six weeks on his own before anyone came looking."He's still a little spicy, and after everything he's been through, we'd expect nothing less," Homeward Bound Cat Adoptions shared with LoveMeow. "But behind those curious eyes, oversized ears, and gorgeous smoky gray ombr coat is a kitten we know is going to blossom." Credit: Danajo That same feisty spirit is what carried him through in the first place, and it has followed him straight into his foster home. Good meals, warm blankets, and patient hands are helping him build the strength his small body still needs.Every day he grows a bit bigger and a bit braver, learning that life does not have to be a fight for survival. Credit: Danajo"He is more confident, doing well, and the resident cat is helping him adjust," said Kimberly Wade of Homeward Bound Cat Adoptions. "Pretty darn adorable!"That resident cat is Charles, and he wasted no time welcoming the newcomer and making him feel right at home. Credit: DanajoHaving a feline friend to wrestle, chase, and nap beside is teaching Freeway how to just be a kitten, something he never got the chance to do before. Watching the two of them tumble across the floor together, it is hard to imagine where Freeway's story began.In a few short weeks, this handsome little heartbreaker will be ready to steal hearts instead of dodging traffic, and a family will get to love him for the rest of his days. Freeway and CharlesCredit: DanajoIt all comes back to one moment on a busy exit ramp, when a single driver refused to keep driving past.That decision, small as it seemed at the time, changed the entire direction of one very small life. Credit: DanajoNot long ago, Freeway was holding onto a concrete barrier for his life. Today, he holds onto warm blankets, a mentor cat named Charles, and a future that finally belongs to him.Share this story with your friends. View more on Freeway by visiting Homeward Bound Cat Adoptions on Instagram @homewardboundcats and Facebook.Related Story: They Take in a Kitten Found in the Middle of Highway and Help Her Grow into Most Charming Little Cat