‘Depressed’ Cat Goes Viral, Finally Gets Adopted During Thanksgiving

• Fishtopher the “frustrated” cat went viral following a Twitter consumer shared screenshots of his Petfinder profile.
• A Baltimore pair informed Insider they drove two hrs and waited in the chilly to adopt him.
• Now they’re applying his social media attractiveness to carry interest to other shelter animals.

This story at first appeared on Business enterprise Insider.

Fishtoper the cat’s journey to his new property started with a tweet.

On Thursday, Twitter person @MollyClarke shared a screenshot of a Petfinder listing from Homeward Sure Pet Adoption Center in Blackwood, New Jersey. The listing featured a image of a massive cat described as “extremely unhappy and frustrated” and “out of kinds” at the shelter.

i swear to god. if a person of you does not go get fishtopher…https://t.co/fpr71yOUL2 pic.twitter.com/k6lLRoquCg

— Molly Clarke (@mollyaclarke) November 24, 2022

The tweet blew up about Thanksgiving, with 168,000 likes and in excess of 21,000 retweets as of Sunday. Social media users replied with encouragement and shots of their own rescue cats, hoping another person would adopt Fishtopher.

A single of the folks who observed the downcast feline on-line was Laura Folts, a 22-calendar year-outdated living in Baltimore, Maryland. Folts advised Insider that she and her boyfriend, 24-12 months-aged Tanner Callahan, beforehand talked about adopting a pet, so she jokingly sent the tweet to him on a whim. Very little did she know, Callahan submitted an software — and promptly heard back from the shelter.

The pair drove from Baltimore to Blackwood on Saturday, leaving all around 8 a.m. and arriving at Homeward Certain close to 10 a.m., an hour ahead of the middle opened. Folts knew that other people would appear to fulfill Fishtopher, so they waited in the cold to be initial in line. Their attempts compensated off.

“I think a large amount of individuals came in seeking to see him. And of the group of the to start with 10 men and women that ended up there at open up, about eight or 9 of them were there to see Fishtopher. And so they all acquired to pet him,” she reported. “But we were the blessed ones to consider him residence.”

Folts and Callahan reported Homeward Certain instructed them they received hundreds of inquiries about Fishtopher, with some touring from California and the United Arab Emirates.

Folts and Callahan say Fishtopher was even now timid on the ride residence but snuggled with them soon after they designed a pit halt.

Graphic Credit: Courtesy of Laura Folts

Following a automobile journey highlighted by a pitstop for cat food and cuddles, Fishtopher moved into Callahan’s home. The couple claims that despite the fact that he’s produced a handful of hideouts for himself, he is modifying to his new house effectively.

Fishtopher examined beneficial for feline immunodeficiency virus according to the couple, which the Cornell Feline Wellness Heart describes as a widespread disorder that attacks a cat’s immune procedure. According to the center, FIV affects any place from 2.5 to five p.c of if not healthful cats in North America.

Regardless of his overall health setback, Fishtopher’s new proprietors say he is a heat, affectionate pet who loves persons.

the people have asked for a lot more photos-topher pic.twitter.com/bx00OldNSm

— heat miser? (@honkinn) November 26, 2022

Folts commenced documenting the cat’s new life with pictures on her personalized Twitter website page, and in addition, developed a Twitter and Instagram account in his title. Each of Fisthtopher’s social media accounts presently have far more than 13,000 followers as of Sunday, which Folts said arrived as a shock to her.”It truly is been definitely heartwarming how a ton of men and women are like, ‘You could notify how substantially happier he is,'” she reported.

Now that Fishtopher has a system, Folts and Callahan say they want to provide interest to other animals in require. Folts usually retweets images and listings for shelter animals, and she explained she hopes the men and women who kept up with Fishtopher — and purchased him objects from a compact desire list — will notice.

Folts explained Fishtopher uncovered a nice area to nap on a pillow in Callahan’s closet.

Image Credit history: Courtesy of Laura Folts

“I actually hope folks maintain the identical strength for other cats just simply because he is really special in his appear,” she reported. “But also you can find other cats that are just as unique and distinctive that have to have houses and also revenue … Men and women wished to deliver us revenue for meals or just give us funds due to the fact we adopted him. And I am just like, ‘No, don’t. Give it to other cats who never have a house right now.'”

Homeward Bound’s govt director Lysa Boston explained to Insider that the centre is at this time more than capacity and she hopes others will be impressed by Fishtopher’s story.

“We are thrilled with all the consideration that he obtained and hope that it will make persons recognize that we have so a lot of amazing cats and pet dogs as perfectly up for adoption that are so generally forgotten,” she explained.