Welcome to my neurosis.

Some cats are not meant to be outdoor cats, no matter how much they would like to be.

We understand that some cats need to be outdoors for their well-being. Those are cats who have been stray cats their whole lives, who feel confined and stressed when they are indoors all the time. We get it. We do. We understand that not all cats transition from being outdoor to indoor cats easily. And we think that this is a decision that has to be made for each cat like that individually and under the consultation of a good vet. Generally, we think that senior cats should be indoors, even if they had spent most of their lives outside, and that, of course, indoor cats cannot just be thrown out one day and expected to smoothly become outdoor cats. 

And then there are ragdoll cats. Some cat breeds do not do well with being outside because of their breed. Ragdoll cats specifically are softer, more trusting, don't have the best survival instincts, and their furs are not very well-suited for life outside. So, it's no surprise that this one started looking for a safer place to stay, especially during the cold winter, and it is not surprising that the person she has chosen is now considering simply adopting her.

Winter is a hard time for outdoor cats. Powered entirely by cans of tuna and tufts of floof, cattos and kittens aren't even supposed to be outside when there's a blizzard. In fact, as all cat lovers know, it's a cats meowral obligation—no, their duty—to curl up on their favorite chair by the fireplace. Even when the hoomans have to motivate themselves to go to work during a big snowstorm, cats owe it to their families to enjoy the comfort and warmth of the inside. 

But what about all of the stays and the forlorn felines trapped outside?

Although they are natural-born survivors and predators in their own right, cats are still precious little babies. Especially with a midwestern cold front blowing in from the north, outdoor cats are particularly vulnerable, licking their toe-beans to keep warm and curling into a cinnamon roll of fluff to conserve warmth. If they're lucky, strays will hunker down and find shelter during the coldest nights, but when this smol, clumsy kitten got stuck in a too-small hole in a fence, their shelter options plummeted to zero. And as the temperature dipped, so did their chances of surviving an incoming blizzard. 

How does one measure the cuteness of a cat? Do you pull out a ruler and measure their whiskers' wingspan? Do you make sure that their toebeans are smooth and moisturized? Maybe you look into their beady, heartwarming eyes and take a second to think about how it makes you feel.

That was a trick question. Feline fanatics know that every cat is cute in their own way, period. The way they sashay about the house as if they're the ones paying the mortgage… The manner in which they eat food, and somehow, manage to make multiple pieces fly out of their mouths at lightning speed. Everything about them screams, "Please, pet me!"

If you're having a rather difficult hoomanly day today, you might benefit from some hissterical feline humor. You may want to consider scrolling below to curb that cuteness craving we all know you've been having. Don't worry, we won't tell anyone!