“Parents always care for their young no matter what species they are. It’s their job to love and protect their babies at all times. So, when a stray cat in Istanbul brought her sick kitten to the Veterinary Hospital, the humans were amazed. But what happened next was even more shocking and heartwarming.
In the Turkish city of Istanbul, it’s impossible to go anywhere or do anything without bumping into a stray cat. They are everywhere in the city. Stray cats have thrived thanks to the kindness and generosity of the people who live there. They provide the animals with food, water, and shelter. While it’s not ideal for there to be an abundance of stray cats across the city, it is of some comfort that they are properly looked after and cared for. In 2019, the New York Times estimated that in Istanbul alone, there are over 125,000 cats roaming free.
The reason why is that many of the city’s inhabitants are Muslim, and their religion is particularly attentive to cats. In fact, there are many examples of the Prophet Muhammad’s fondness for felines. So, it makes complete sense why cats are so loved and revered in the city. In the past, Muslims also considered them to be Guardians of the city, defending libraries from destruction by mice and helping protect the population from rat-borne plagues. They served a valuable service and were revered for it.
“There are so many cats around here,” said one happy resident. “But we honestly don’t mind. They are only animals. They cause no harm or trouble. They sometimes come and sit in the yard or even on your lap sometimes, but that’s no problem. These cats are like communal pets. Plus, it seems like it’s us that have been adopted by them. I’ve been lucky enough to have been chosen by two black cats and a gray one that I feed every single day without fail.”
With so many felines in the area, it made a lot of sense that the local veterinary hospital had more cats brought through their doors than any other animal. People often found the cats sick or injured and would scoop them up and bring them to the vets for treatment. The doctors were, of course, unfazed by it; they had seen it all by now. They were specialists in cat care and had treated all manner of injury and ailment. It was all part of being a vet in Istanbul.
Sometimes the poor animals would pass away, but most of the time, they were able to fix and rehabilitate them. They would be spayed or neutered, properly cared for until they were back to full health, and either sent to a local shelter where they would be rehomed or allowed back out onto the streets. Whichever happened, it was always important to the vets that they did their best and looked after these beautiful animals. Not only did they want to protect them for spiritual and religious reasons, but they also wanted to do so for moral reasons.
But sometimes, even at the Veterinary Hospital, something unexpected happened, and that’s exactly where our story begins. The hospital and waiting room were fairly quiet, and the staff took the opportunity to catch up on some much-needed follow-up and paperwork. These things often went on the back burner during particularly busy times. After all, an animal’s life is more important than filling in some paperwork, so they took advantage of the lull and got down to the work that didn’t often get to be done.
But all of a sudden, the automatic doors that led from the street into the reception opened up. The receptionist looked up, expecting to see someone walking in with their pet for their appointment, but she saw that there was no one there. Perhaps someone had walked by a little too close to the door and set off the sensor that made it automatically slide open. She looked back down at her computer but heard a strange noise. Leaning over the desk, she looked down and saw something that made her mouth drop open. Something that she had never witnessed before in all her years of working at the Veterinary Hospital.
There was a small brown and white cat walking across the floor, carrying her kitten in her mouth. Clearly, the cat had set off the sensor and let itself in. The little kitten looked very young and weak, and it hung uselessly, incapacitated by her grip. It looked around the room with its glossy eyes, though seeming a little confused as to why it was here. The mother was clearly on a mission, though, walking with purpose towards the reception. If it were not so strange and unusual, it would have been a comical sight.
The receptionist seemed a little taken aback by the cat and her kitten so brazenly walking in, even though there were many cats in the area, none had ever walked willingly through the door. The mother cat hopped up onto the desk with the kitten in her mouth and lowered it down in front of the receptionist, quickly calling for one of the vets. A small crowd gathered around the newcomers. Why were they here? Did they want something, or had they just wandered in because they were curious?
The vets had to get to the bottom of it. Seeing a cat and kitten come walking in so willingly is something that I’ve never seen before,” said one of the vets who was on duty that day. “Unless the cats are really sick or injured, it seems like they avoid the veterinary hospital as much as possible. So when the receptionist shouted for us to come and take a look, we were, quite frankly, dumbfounded.”
Checking the mother cat, she seemed to be happy and healthy, so they quickly moved on to the kitten. As they handled the small cat, the mother didn’t let the kitten out of her sight. She would cautiously follow the vet around as they carried the kitten to various stations in order to properly examine it. The devoted mother was clearly not willing to let her child be taken away but trusted those humans in scrubs enough to let them help it.
“Thankfully, it was discovered that while the kitten was only very small and thin, it was largely okay. It was only suffering from being a little underfed, something that could easily be fixed. It seemed that the kitten was the runt of the litter and kept on getting pushed out whenever food or water was placed out by any of the locals.
Its strength had eventually started to fail, and the attentive and caring mother cat did what any loving parent would do and sought medical assistance. The kitten was clearly in need of assistance, and its mother recognized that fact,” said one of the vets who had treated the tiny animal. “It’s amazing that cats can so instinctively understand that one of their own is ill. The kitten could obviously not communicate that fact, and we put it down to the mother’s intuition that she knew that things weren’t right. It’s such an amazing thing to see in the animal kingdom.”
The vets provided food, water, and several vaccinations to help protect the kitten against diseases and keep it feeling fit and strong. The cat and the kitten wolfed down every last bit before spending some time grooming. Nurses and doctors thought that they would just hop down from the counters and leave, but those furballs had something else to do before saying goodbye.
Once ready to go back to the streets, the mother cat went around each member of staff, rubbing her body up against them, almost as if to say thank you to them all. It was a heart
warming gesture that shows that cats really do have some level of empathy and emotional intelligence. Doctors and nurses took their sweet time petting both felines before letting them go.
Eventually, the mother and her kitten wandered back out of the door that they had come through several long hours before. They had some other adventure to live, other places to smell, and more food to steal from loving people.
The whole event was captured on camera, and the story spread all across Turkey before making its way around the world. It was truly an unlikely tale. This cat had the wherewithal and cleverness to seek medical assistance for its child in need. Because of her quick thinking and kind actions, her kitten lived to fight another day.
So now it’s over to you. What did you think of this incredible story? How would you react if you saw a stray cat carrying its sick kitten into the Veterinary Hospital? Would you ever have thought that cats could be so caring and attentive towards their young? As always, we love to hear from you, so be sure to leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section down below.”
