“You must be someone’s baby …”
On a chilly December morning, Karly, a dedicated cat rescuer, woke up to find a fluffy stranger curled up on her lawn chair. As someone who cared for a local feral cat colony, she was used to seeing cats in her yard—but this particular visitor was new. And his behavior suggested a heartbreaking past.
“What stood out was that he wasn’t afraid when I approached,” Karly told The Dodo. “Usually, the regular cats who come to eat and hang out have different body language.”
Instead of running away, the orange-and-white cat leapt from the chair and cautiously crept toward Karly. He sniffed the can of food in her hand and even allowed her to pet him.
“You must be someone’s baby,” Karly said in a video of the rescue. “But you’re so dirty …”
At first, Karly wasn’t sure what to make of him. His fluffy coat made him look well-fed, but beneath it, he was covered in dirt and fleas. He had an insatiable appetite, yet he was clearly comfortable around humans.
After devouring two cans of food from a heart-shaped bowl, the cat—later named Pepe Luigi—followed Karly inside. He soon received a much-needed bath, complete with a fluffy robe and plenty of kisses from his new foster mom.
With 19 cats already in her care, Karly knew she couldn’t keep Pepe Luigi forever. Fortunately, someone close to her stepped in to offer him a permanent home.
“If no one claims him, my sister-in-law will be adopting him,” Karly shared on Instagram.
The next day, Karly took Pepe Luigi to the vet to check for a microchip and assess his health. To her surprise, he didn’t have a chip—but he did have a rare medical condition affecting his reproductive organs, requiring extensive surgery.
“We think this might be why someone abandoned him,” Karly wrote.
Despite the heartbreaking discovery, Karly was relieved that Pepe Luigi was otherwise healthy and quickly scheduled his surgery.
For the next week, he remained in quarantine at Karly’s home before finally being cleared to meet his new mom and two cat brothers. Now, a few weeks into his new life, Pepe Luigi couldn’t be happier.
“He is so happy!” Karly said. “He follows his parents everywhere and loves hanging out with his new brothers.”
It’s hard to say what led Pepe Luigi to Karly’s yard that morning—whether the local feral cats guided him there or if he was simply drawn to her caring nature. But one thing is certain: Karly wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“Seeing him happy, well cared for, and loved brings me so much joy,” she said.