Couple Adopts ‘Depressed’ Cat Fishtopher After Seeing Viral Tweet
- Fishtopher the “depressed” cat went viral after a Twitter person shared screenshots of his Petfinder profile.
- A Baltimore couple instructed Insider they drove two hours and waited within the chilly to undertake him.
- Now they’re utilizing his social media reputation to deliver consideration to different shelter animals.
Fishtoper the cat’s journey to his new dwelling began with a tweet.
On Thursday, Twitter person @MollyClarke shared a screenshot of a Petfinder itemizing from Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center in Blackwood, New Jersey. The itemizing featured a photograph of a giant cat described as “very unhappy and depressed” and “out of types” on the shelter.
—Molly Clarke (@mollyaclarke) November 24, 2022
The tweet blew up over Thanksgiving, with 168,000 likes and over 21,000 retweets as of Sunday. Social media customers replied with encouragement and footage of their very own rescue cats, hoping somebody would undertake Fishtopher.
One of many individuals who noticed the downcast feline on-line was Laura Folts, a 22-year-old dwelling in Baltimore, Maryland. Folts instructed Insider that she and her boyfriend, 24-year-old Tanner Callahan, beforehand talked about adopting a pet, so she jokingly despatched the tweet to him on a whim. Little did she know, Callahan submitted an utility — and shortly heard again from the shelter.
The couple drove from Baltimore to Blackwood on Saturday, leaving round 8 a.m. and arriving at Homeward Certain round 10 a.m., an hour earlier than the middle opened. Folts knew that others would come to satisfy Fishtopher, so that they waited within the chilly to be first in line. Their efforts paid off.
“I feel lots of people got here in eager to see him. And of the group of the primary 10 folks that had been there at open, about eight or 9 of them had been there to see Fishtopher. And they also all bought to pet him,” she stated. “However we had been the fortunate ones to take him dwelling.”
Folts and Callahan stated Homeward Certain instructed them they bought tons of of inquiries about Fishtopher, with some touring from California and the United Arab Emirates.
After a automobile journey highlighted by a pitstop for cat meals and cuddles, Fishtopher moved into Callahan’s dwelling. The couple says that though he is created a number of hideouts for himself, he is adjusting to his new house effectively.
Fishtopher examined optimistic for feline immunodeficiency virus in response to the couple, which the Cornell Feline Health Center describes as a standard illness that assaults a cat’s immune system. In response to the middle, FIV impacts anyplace from 2.5 to 5 % of in any other case wholesome cats in North America.
Regardless of his well being setback, Fishtopher’s new house owners say he is a heat, affectionate pet who loves individuals.
—warmth miser🔥 (@honkinn) November 26, 2022
Folts started documenting the cat’s new life with photographs on her private Twitter page, and as well as, created a Twitter and Instagram account in his title. Each of Fisthtopher’s social media accounts have already got greater than 13,000 followers as of Sunday, which Folts stated got here as a shock to her.
“It has been actually heartwarming how lots of people are like, ‘You may inform how a lot happier he’s,'” she stated.
Now that Fishtopher has a platform, Folts and Callahan say they need to deliver consideration to different animals in want. Folts steadily retweets photographs and listings for shelter animals, and he or she stated she hopes the individuals who saved up with Fishtopher — and acquired him objects from a small want listing — will discover.
“I actually hope individuals maintain the identical power for different cats simply because he’s very distinctive in his look,” she stated. “But in addition there’s different cats which can be simply as distinctive and particular that want houses and likewise cash … Folks wished to ship us cash for meals or simply give us cash as a result of we adopted him. And I am identical to, ‘No, do not. Give it to different cats who haven’t got a house proper now.'”
Homeward Certain’s government director Lysa Boston instructed Insider that the middle is presently over capability and he or she hopes others can be impressed by Fishtopher’s story.
“We’re thrilled with all the eye that he bought and hope that it’ll make individuals notice that now we have so many great cats and canines as effectively up for adoption which can be so typically missed,” she stated.
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