A woman from Kansas saved a pair of feral kittens from the streets, but then about two months later, their feline family came back for them. Now a viral TikTok video documenting their emotional encounter has melted hearts on social media.
Sara Morgan, who rescued the kitties, told Newsweek that she found three of them hiding in her shed a couple of months ago, and while she managed to catch two, one escaped and left with his feral parents, whom she has been trying to catch for years.
“The dad finally made friends with me, so the mom started bringing the third kitten around. But the kitten has been much more afraid than the adult cats,” Morgan said.
However, despite being scared and shy, the third kitten recently showed up at her door, as shown in the viral clip shared in August under the username @songwritersara. He can be seen walking up to Morgan’s front door, trying to play with his sister, who also recognized him from behind the glass and immediately acknowledged him.
“That’s my sister! Mom I found her!” reads layover text in the clip, as the kitten calls his mom over after recognizing the missing family member.
“That was the first night he came up to visit with me sitting outside, and his sister happened to be in the doorway. He only came to the doorway because he realized he knew her. It was so sweet. He had been too scared before that and recognizing her gave him the courage,” Morgan added.
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Dr. Jess Kirk, a licensed veterinarian in the state of Georgia, says on Vet Explains Pets that, because of their strong sense of smell and memory, cats can indeed recognize their siblings, even if they were separated at a young age. They can track their family down by using scent cues, vocalizations and familiar landmarks to find each other.
From the clip, it looks like the feral kitten really missed his sister and was over the moon when he finally found her. But do cats actually miss their family after being separated?
The answers is yes, or at least in the beginning. An article published by Catster, and medically reviewed by Dr. Ashley Darby, says that kittens most likely miss their mom and siblings soon after being separated, because, like us, they also form close attachments. However, once you form a bond with them, they will start warming up to you and adjust to their new home and family.
Morgan added that, while she has managed to catch the feral parents, who were both siblings from the same litter, too, the mom had yet another litter before being taken to safety, but thankfully all of the kittens were rehomed quickly.
“We kept the dad, took him to the vet and got him fixed, and he lives on the porch because he is FIV and FELV [feline immunodeficiency virus and feline leukemia virus] positive,” Morgan said.
“We have five other cats who are all negative so he can’t come inside. But we’re building for him a place at the house. We have a couch and blankets outside for him to sleep on until we are done with that.”
The only kitten that Morgan hasn’t been able to catch so far is the one who found his sister in the video, whom she said keeps showing up occasionally but runs away before she can get close.
“If we could get him, we’d keep him as well,” Morgan said. “We have since found a forever home for the mom and her latest litter. We had them both for a little while before we found them homes. My husband and I have five cats and a rabbit inside, and two feral cats outside. We try to catch, feed, and fix anything we can. We love kitties!”
The video quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 800,400 views and more than 95,700 likes on the platform.
One user, Doxsion, commented: “You’re trying! That’s all that matters!! Thank you for caring so much to help!”
Hercules The Kitty posted: “I hope you reunite them. they miss each other.”
Tracey Massong added: “This poor scared baby. I hope he eventually gets comfortable enough to come inside. This makes me sad.”
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