A couple drove 2 hours to adopt a ‘depressed’ cat named Fishtopher immediately after a tweet about him went viral. Now, they want to use his reputation to aid other shelter pets.

• Fishtopher the “frustrated” cat went viral following a Twitter person shared screenshots of his Petfinder profile.

• A Baltimore few informed Insider they drove two hrs and waited in the chilly to adopt him.

• Now they are applying his social media acceptance to deliver interest to other shelter animals.

Fishtoper the cat’s journey to his new house started off with a tweet.

On Thursday, Twitter consumer @MollyClarke shared a screenshot of a Petfinder listing from Homeward Certain Pet Adoption Heart in Blackwood, New Jersey. The listing highlighted a picture of a huge cat explained as “incredibly unhappy and frustrated” and “out of types” at the shelter.

The tweet blew up in excess of Thanksgiving, with 168,000 likes and above 21,000 retweets as of Sunday. Social media users replied with encouragement and photos of their very own rescue cats, hoping a person would undertake Fishtopher.

A single of the persons who observed the downcast feline on the web was Laura Folts, a 22-yr-old living in Baltimore, Maryland. Folts told Insider that she and her boyfriend, 24-12 months-outdated Tanner Callahan, previously talked about adopting a pet, so she jokingly despatched the tweet to him on a whim. Tiny did she know, Callahan submitted an software — and speedily read back again from the shelter.

The few drove from Baltimore to Blackwood on Saturday, leaving all over 8 a.m. and arriving at Homeward Sure about 10 a.m., an hour prior to the centre opened. Folts knew that other people would arrive to meet Fishtopher, so they waited in the cold to be very first in line. Their endeavours paid out off.

“I imagine a lot of folks came in seeking to see him. And of the team of the initial 10 folks that have been there at open, about eight or nine of them ended up there to see Fishtopher. And so they all bought to pet him,” she mentioned. “But we ended up the blessed ones to acquire him residence.”

Folts and Callahan said Homeward Certain explained to them they received hundreds of inquiries about Fishtopher, with some touring from California and the United Arab Emirates.

After a automobile trip highlighted by a pitstop for cat meals and cuddles, Fishtopher moved into Callahan’s house. The pair suggests that despite the fact that he is made a handful of hideouts for himself, he’s modifying to his new place properly.

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Fishtopher analyzed positive for feline immunodeficiency virus according to the pair, which the Cornell Feline Wellbeing Center describes as a typical ailment that attacks a cat’s immune program. In accordance to the middle, FIV influences anyplace from 2.5 to five % of normally nutritious cats in North America.

Irrespective of his wellness setback, Fishtopher’s new owners say he is a warm, affectionate pet who enjoys persons.

Folts started documenting the cat’s new life with photos on her individual Twitter web site, and in addition, established a Twitter and Instagram account in his name. Both of Fisthtopher’s social media accounts presently have additional than 13,000 followers as of Sunday, which Folts said came as a shock to her.

“It is been seriously heartwarming how a ton of folks are like, ‘You could explain to how considerably happier he is,'” she claimed.

Now that Fishtopher has a platform, Folts and Callahan say they want to carry attention to other animals in want. Folts routinely retweets photographs and listings for shelter animals, and she stated she hopes the men and women who saved up with Fishtopher — and bought him objects from a tiny would like listing — will recognize.

“I genuinely hope persons hold the exact same electrical power for other cats just because he is pretty exceptional in his search,” she stated. “But also there is certainly other cats that are just as one of a kind and exclusive that will need properties and also funds … Individuals desired to send us funds for foods or just give us dollars simply because we adopted him. And I’m just like, ‘No, you should not. Give it to other cats who really don’t have a home appropriate now.'”

Homeward Bound’s executive director Lysa Boston explained to Insider that the center is at this time around potential and she hopes some others will be motivated by Fishtopher’s tale.

“We are thrilled with all the notice that he obtained and hope that it will make individuals understand that we have so many fantastic cats and dogs as properly up for adoption that are so normally missed,” she mentioned.

Browse the initial write-up on Insider