A few nights ago, while scrolling through TikTok, I stumbled upon a heartbreaking video that deeply moved me.
The video featured a young cat named Giselle, barely seven months old, peeking out from her cat bed where she was nestled with her kittens.
It appears that Giselle, still a kitten herself, was forced into motherhood and now faces parenting responsibilities instead of enjoying her own kittenhood.
In the video, Giselle is making her way out of her cat bed, making it bluntly obvious to everyone just how young she actually is.
With a confused look on her face, she walks toward Gabby, her foster mom from Wisconsin, who gently pats her head, offering consolation during one of the most challenging times in her life.
Although Giselle’s situation is technically natural since she reached sexual maturity, it’s undeniably sad that such a big responsibility was thrust upon her at such a young age.
By sharing Giselle’s story on TikTok, Gabby aimed to highlight the importance of spaying and neutering cats.
She firmly believed that Giselle deserved to experience her kittenhood properly, a sentiment shared by over a million people on TikTok.
In the video description, Gabby assured viewers that the young mother and her kittens are happy and healthy. She stated:
“Giselle and her beans are a happy family, but she should have never been put in this position.”
Gabby then addressed her viewers directly, saying:
“If you have barn cats or strays, trap, and neuter then release. fix all of your pets, STOP BREEDING, and adopt. thankfully this is her first and last litter, and she will get to be a kid again after her babies are weaned.”
In a conversation with Newsweek, Gaby talked about the first time she met Giselle and her kittens.
According to her, fostering this endearing furry family came by an accident. One day, while returning some items from her last foster case to a shelter in Wisconsin, she noticed the young Giselle and her kittens.
The young mother was tiny and extremely skinny, and all five of her kittens were crawling all over her, making her look more like their big sister than their mother.
Gaby said:
“I asked the director if she wanted me to foster them and she was more than happy to allow me to take them, as space in a shelter is scarce, especially during kitten season. So, I packed up the mama and five beans and brought them back to Milwaukee with me.”
Thankfully, both Giselle and her babies were healthy felines who settled into their foster home quite nicely.
Today, Gabby is taking wonderful care of them, ensuring all their needs are met. She plans to have them spayed or neutered once they are weaned and old enough, and eventually, she hopes to find them their forever homes.
As for Giselle, Gabby is making an effort to remind this brave young mother that she’s still just a kitten herself. She nurtures Giselle’s playful spirit every day and helps her with her parenting duties as much as she can.
When talking about the bond she shares with Giselle, Gaby says:
“She trusts me and loves me, coming to lay on me whenever she has a chance. She carries all her babies to me on my bed, feeling safest next to me. I like to think I have taken the role of mother for her, as I help feed and care for the babies with her and I can tell she is grateful since it is so hard on her.”
Giselle and her fluffs are still under Gabby’s protective fostering wing. I hope that adoption applications for this adorable family will start coming in soon.
If you’re in the area and interested in adopting, I highly recommend visiting Gabby’s TikTok for more information about adoption fees and other details.
And if you do adopt one of Giselle’s kittens, please, please, please – let me know! Share your story with me, so I can write about it and share it with the rest of the world.
It’s always better when we’re all working together – especially for a good cause!
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