A new cat owner has melted hearts all over the internet after revealing that the senior animal she just adopted has turned out to be totally different from what she expected.
In a post shared on TikTok on Tuesday, under the username @mariannananananna, the ginger cat called Binky, can be seen taking showers. He is playing with his owner and walking to the park on a leash with as much energy as a young cat in its prime.
In the heartwarming post, his owner says: “Adopting a 19-year-old hospice cat thinking I could give him a calm home so he could rest on his last days.”
The British animal charity Blue Cross says that, in optimal conditions, domesticated cats can live up to 20 years, and they go through six main life stages.
The first stage is when they are kittens, which starts at birth until 6 months of age, which is the best time for the animals to learn. From then until about 2 years of age, they are juniors, and that is when cats reach their full size.
From 3 to 6 years of age, they are in the prime stage, which, as the name itself suggests, is the peak of their life. Then, from 7 to 10 years of age, they are considered mature cats; and, from 11 to 14, they are senior. When felines live 15 years or older, they are considered to be geriatric.
Adopting an older cat is a great idea, especially if you are out all day and just want some feline company when you are home. That’s because older cats are generally strong and independent felines, who are naturally more settled and generally happier on their own than younger animals would be.
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The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 1 million views and more than 115,000 likes on the platform.
One user, Taryn Eames, commented: “One [of] our old men cats got WILD in his last year. he was so chill, then was given 30 days, lived 9 months with full force lol .”
And bd posted: “My childhood cat lived well into her 20s! My aunts lived to be 27! And they were outdoor/indoor with minimal health upkeep! Our old lady now is 16.”
Newsweek reached out to @mariannananananna for comment via TikTok chat. We could not verify the details of the case.
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