Tears as Abandoned Cat Gazes at Kittens Playing When She 'Never Learned' To

A video of a cat experiencing "fomo," or fear of missing out, while observing her two feline housemates has moved viewers on social media.

The clip was shared by @ikylamay and has received 1.5 million views since it was first posted Tuesday. A message overlaid on the screen says: "My cat was abandoned at a young age and never learned how to play with other cats, so she just watches my kittens play from afar."

The footage shows a cat nearly hidden behind what appears to be a cat bed and wood furniture, with just half of her face poking out along the side. The video later shows a shot of two kittens sitting by a window, pawing at the glass.

A caption shared with the post reads: "She gets major fomo."

Each year, 6.3 million pets enter U.S. shelters, which is an average of 17,260 a day, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The number of dogs and cats taken in by pet shelters hit 46,807 during January 2023, an increase of 1,744 compared with January 2022, the 24Petwatch's Shelter Watch Report found.

Around 920,000 surrendered animals are euthanized every year. Shelters are striving to minimize euthanasia rates by promoting adoption campaigns, spaying and neutering programs and behavior rehabilitation.

Among the millions of animals entering shelters and rescue facilities across the country, adult cats and neonatal kittens (newborns aged up to around 4 weeks) form a large portion of those in need of a home, according to the nonprofit Humane Society of the United States.

A November 2014 study in Applied Animal Behavior Science found that domestic cats can experience "serious stress" in shelters and that stressful experiences can have "a major impact" on the welfare of felines.

The stress can cause "higher incidences of infectious diseases in the shelters due to raised cortisol [stress hormone] levels causing immunodeficiency," the study said.

'She Deserves the World'

TikTok users were heartbroken by seeing the cat in the viral post.

Brandon said, "She deserves the world," while nkc wrote, "Angel. I hope she heals."

"Uncontrollably crying thank u," said @roiversailles, and @livhusseini wrote, "IM CRYING NO."

Glitch said, "Nooo this makes me sad," and Toy-yiebah Cupido wrote, "She's literally so pure my heartttt."

"Never related to a cat so much before," said @lizziesharpee.

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.

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