Cats are inquisitive animals that sometimes get themselves into trouble by taking one too many steps away from their home. Like one cat that was caught on camera befriending a woman after getting lost.
In her viral TikTok clip, Lexi Evitts-Mesick (@dontdrinkanddiy) can be seen watering her plants before the white and ginger cat strolls over. It wasn't long until the feline made himself at home, so the Michigan woman began posting photos online to try to find his owner.
Evitts-Mesick, 30, told Newsweek: "We assumed he was lost because of how clean and well taken care of he was. He was also declawed, so we assumed he was someone's indoor cat."
The cat, Nickolas, didn't leave the woman and her husband Kevin's side all night.
"I didn't have any responses all night and he didn't want to leave, so he hung out with my husband and I all evening while we were relaxing in the backyard," she said. "Once we went to bed, we put him in our garage since he was declawed and we didn't want him to get hurt."
In 2018, Australian researchers looked into the search methods used to locate missing cats. Of the 1,210 cats studied, only 61 percent were found within one year, while 34 percent were recovered alive by the owner within seven days.
The study found that physical searching increased the chances of finding cats alive, and 75 percent of cats were found within a 500-meter radius of their point of escape.
For Nickolas, a search proved successful. The following day, closed-circuit TV recorded the moment the owner found his furry friend. The tear-jerking moment has racked up 1 million views and over 151,000 likes since it was shared Monday.
Evitts-Mesick said: "The next morning we were calling vets to see if he was microchipped, and our doorbell camera notified us someone was on our porch. We ran outside once we realized he had put a flyer on our door. We called out to him that we had his cat, and he dropped everything and ran to us.
"It was absolutely such an amazing feeling being able to reunite them. He was worried sick that the cat was missing or gone for good," she said.
So far, the video has received 400 comments, and one user has requested the full recording from the Ring doorbell. She wrote: "Please I want the full video with audio so I can properly cry to this."
"The cat distribution system knew you would help him get home. You were chosen," wrote another.
"You can tell that this was a well-fed, loved and missed cat. Thank you for the happy ending!!" said another.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
