Cat Distribution System Orders ‘Family Reunion’ by Summoning New Strays

A couple’s decision to take in the two stray cats that mysteriously arrived at a relative’s home, a year after adopting another stray kitten from the same spot, has melted the hearts of viewers online.

The post, shared by u/wheelymcfeely on October 17, recounts the curious incident outside his mother’s house, when two friendly felines seemingly orchestrated their own fostering.

“I heard a cat meowing, so I turned my flashlight on and looked under her porch,” the man, who already owned three cats and a dog with his girlfriend, told Newsweek.

The post has been upvoted more than 20,000 times and has garnered more than 330 comments.

This spot held sentimental value, as it was the same place he had previously rescued a kitten, now their cat Penny, two years ago.

There was no cat under the porch, but to his surprise, a cat came trotting in from the tree line, meowing loudly. This playful feline was soon joined by another cat from the same direction, equally vocal.

“This is the same place we rescued a kitten from two years ago, so there’s a chance that the [cat distribution system] has ordered a family reunion of sorts,” u/wheelymcfeely, who would prefer to keep his real identity private, joked in the post.

The cat distribution system refers to the popular tongue-in-cheek concept that the universe chooses a cat for you when you are ready, in this case a few cats

“At that point we sort of just accepted that we’d been tricked by a very hungry cat into bringing in both him and his brother or friend,” he said “Almost immediately after we got them inside and made a little quarantine in our bathroom for them, they relaxed and seemed to enjoy their new comfy surroundings.”

After discussing with his girlfriend, the couple decided to foster the friendly felines.

“We thought the first one to come along was a female in heat until we got a closer look,” he added.

Despite their initial plan to take in only one cat, they found themselves embracing both cats. The pair have since been rehomed with the Reddit user and given the names Mac and Charlie, after characters played by Charlie Day and Rob McElhenney in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Viewers on Reddit were able to see images of the two cats together, safe and well at the man’s home after being welcomed in a few hours later.

Caring for Mac and Charlie has not been without its challenges; the pair embarked on extensive vet check-ups, including tick removal and a flea bath. The man recalls pulling at least 20 ticks off the felines at first, but was relieved to see that underneath they were both fairly healthy.

“If there’s one thing I can raise awareness about with my post, it would be for people to find out if they have a local trap-spay/neuter-release program, if they are feeding local wild cats,” he said. “Boys like the ones we’ve welcomed into our life would have made the feral cat situation even worse if they were left in the wild!”

The man said that while it is not common for people in his area to have outdoor cats as pets, people do leave food out for feral felines. He had previously found a mother cat that had three litters under his mom’s porch, and had to trap her to be able to get her spayed and adopted out.

“We suspect that these boys in my post are from that third litter, which would make them our other cat’s brothers if true,” he said.

Since sharing his story online, the man has had the cats checked by a veterinarian to make sure they were not already microchipped on the off-chance they were runaways. Despite his hopes to help the cats, not everyone appreciated his efforts.

“The post getting so popular has been interesting to me and it was fun interacting with so many people, but the occasional accusation of lying for attention or that we had stolen someone else’s cats did spring up to remind me of how the internet can be,” he said “I’ve done my best to handle my five minutes of Reddit attention!”

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