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By Maria Azzurra Volpe
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After a long shift at work a woman from Australia heard a noise in the bushes near her job and stopped to check out what it was. To her surprise, deep inside the bushes was a small and hungry kitten.
In a viral TikTok video shared in February under the username @chloeegill, the woman can be seen trying to get hold of a ginger kitten hiding in the bushes, doing everything she can to grab him while he hisses at her.
"The cat distribution system chose me. The second I heard a meow I knew I had to save them. I had just worked an 11 hour shift and was the last one to leave. It was like he waited for me," the video's text overlay reads. "No one else heard him when they were leaving! The second I saw he was ginger, I knew it was over and I now had a third child."
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Thankfully, the woman worked near a grocery store where she was able to buy cat food, which immediately got the kitty's attention. Then she was able to draw him out of the bushes and take him away to safety.
"It took a lot of patience because he obviously had been abandoned or something of the sort, and wasn't very trusting he was giving me hisses and was very hesitant. But he was very, very hungry," she says in the clip.
After knocking on a few doors to see if he belonged to anyone, none of the neighbors claimed him, so she went ahead and took him home. By that point, the kitty, now named Cheeto, had already decided to let her hold him and had even started licking her.
Then, she noticed a big wound on his legs, so the next day she took him to the emergency veterinarian where he had life-saving surgery.
Newsweek reached out to @chloeegill for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the case.
The Difference Between a Stray and Feral Cat
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), over 3.2 million cats enter U.S. shelters every year, and while some find a home, about 530,000 of them end up being euthanized, often for lack of space in the facilities.
That's why it's important when you find a stray or feral cat to get them spayed or neutered.
While stray cats can be relatively easy to handle, feral cats are undomesticated, and so you risk getting hurt by approaching one if you are not a trained expert. But how can you tell whether a cat is a stray or a feral just by looking at them?
United Kingdom-based animal charity Blue Cross says that the best way to tell a stray cat from a feral one is by paying close attention to their behavior. If the feline was found roaming around houses, and they are comfortable around people, they are likely a stray.
However, if the feline is trying to avoid human contact or acting threatening, especially if they were found away from urban areas, chances are they may be feral and could hurt you if they feel intimidated by your presence.
The best thing to do when you find a cat in the streets is to call the local shelter or veterinarian and report the animal.
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TikTok Users React
The video quickly went viral on TikTok and it has so far received over 427,300 views and 44,800 likes on the social media platform.
One user, Jackie, commented: "And here I was thinking the cat distribution system doesn't work in Australia."
Chloe.galligan8 posted: "And now I'm crying thinking about how there's stray cats out there."
AnnaVo385 added: "If a ginger cat [chooses] you, you can be quite sure the universe [sent] you a gift."
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.
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