A tabby cat showed up outside someone's home. When she saw the door open, she snuck right in and decided to stay.
A couple of months ago, a stray cat wandered into a neighborhood in Queens, New York. A resident, who regularly cares for the neighborhood cats, was outside of her house when the tabby appeared.
She saw the kitty dart right past her into her house and quickly make herself comfortable on the basement floor. The woman couldn't say no to the little feline visitor and let her spend the night as the weather was cold outside.
The cat returned two weeks later and surprised the family when the homeowner found a litter of newborn kittens in her shoe rack. Turned out, the tabby chose her home to have kittens.
The woman immediately reached out to a local rescue group and asked if they could help. Sara Zoe, a volunteer of the rescue, took them home to foster. She named the cat Magnolia aka Maggie.
Shortly after they settled in, Sara realized that the momma cat needed more help than they had anticipated.
"She got a bad infection with a fever of 105 degrees (40.6°C). Her health started declining and had to be hospitalized for almost a week," Sara told Love Meow.
The kittens were very young and needed to be fed around the clock. They were not taking well to the bottle at first and had to be tube-fed while Mama Maggie was away.
"Mama luckily made a full recovery but because she wasn't making as much milk after being away from the kittens for so long, I had to keep bottle feeding," Sara said.
"She and I made a great team. The babies gained weight and were getting proper nutrition."
The tabby mom is very affectionate toward her foster parents and loves to talk to them and ask for attention and pets.
Watch their foster journey in this video:
"Mama Magnolia is a fiercely loving mama who adores her saplings as we've begun to call them. She is chatty and purrs very loudly, especially when she gets talked to and petted!"
"Her favorite thing to do is cuddle right next to us as we watch TV," Sara told Love Meow.
"Two of her kittens (Ash and Juniper) got adopted today. And there are applications in for everyone else too! Mama is expected to go to her new home in May."
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Related story: Stray Kitten Shows Up on Family's Doorstep for Food and Decides to Stay