A family who took in a stray cat was told by the vet she likely had worms—so what happened next was entirely unexpected.
TikTok user @bears.babies is the proud owner of white-and-tabby cat Bear, who was rescued from the streets when she was “close to the end of her life.”
Now, Bear is a much-loved, well-cared-for cat, who makes regular appearances in her owner’s videos.
On February 22, Bear’s owner shared the story of the night Bear was found outside, and the wild journey it took them on.
In the video, liked close to 300,000 times, the owner showed the night she found Bear, looking tired, sick and dangerously underweight. But the tiny cat quickly “became comfortable” with her new owners, and settled into life as a pampered pet.
Before long, however, her owners worried there was something wrong, as her “stomach got extremely large” a few weeks later.
Their vet assured there was nothing to worry about, suggesting “it was just bloated due to worms from living outside.”
But it’s safe to say the vet was wrong—as Bear soon gave birth to five kittens.
Their owner explained in the video that they “knew we would have a heartbreaking decision to make” in the weeks after the kittens were born, as they watched the bond between the mother and siblings grow, and “we also grew to love them all so much.”
And so, they “made a decision that not many people would do, and kept them all.”
Sadly, one of the kittens died shortly after birth, but the remaining four kittens—now almost adults themselves—live a life of luxury together with their mother and their owners.
And, unlike Bear, her kittens have never known anything but a comfortable life.
The woman now regularly showcases life with her five cats: Bear, Atlas, Astro, Luna, and Nova.
TikTok users fell in love with the story, watching it more than 1.2 million times, as one commenter shared: “I did this. Mom had seven kittens.”
“Same thing actually happened to my Dad,” another said. “16 years later he still has the mom and her four kittens!”
And another said: “You’re telling me she was severely underweight when outside and STILL had 4 beautiful healthy babies. you guys decided to love her so much and saved 5 lives!”
And amid all the emotional comments was one joker who made a call-back to the vet’s initial suggestion and wrote: “Welcome to the family ringworm, hookworm, roundworm and tapeworm.”
Newsweek has contacted @bears.babies via TikTok for comment.
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