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By Rachael O'Connor
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A foster carer who took in a young cat who had just had kittens herself has broken hearts across the internet.
In a video shared to TikTok on May 13, which has already racked up one million views, a gorgeous young tabby cat can be seen looking after a litter of kittens in a crate.
As she emerges from a cat bed to receive pats from foster carer Gaby, it's clear just how young Giselle really is, as she's not much larger than her own kittens playing beside her.
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Gaby wrote on the video, shared to their account @gabecampers: "Giselle is still a kitten but is raising babies instead of playing." They added: "She should be a kitten, not a mother."
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Gaby assured viewers in a caption that the mother and kittens "are a happy family but she should have never been put in this position,"and pleaded with people to spay and neuter their pets.
"Thankfully this is her first and last litter and she will get to be a kid again after her babies are weaned," they said.
Speaking to Newsweek, Gaby, 19, from Wisconsin, said Giselle came into their care "kinda by accident."
After visiting the shelter to return items from her last foster, they "saw Giselle, small and skinny, laying there with her five babies all crawling over her."
"I asked the director if she wanted me to foster them and she was more than happy to allow me to take them, as space in a shelter is scarce especially during kitten season," they explained. "So, I packed up the mama and five beans and brought them back to Milwaukee with me. I have had them for four days now and they are settling in wonderfully."
In the United States, approximately 6.3 million animals end up in shelters each year, including 3.2 million cats, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
Thankfully, this number is far reduced from 2011, when 7.2 million animals entered shelters across the country. And each year, 4.1 million animals are adopted from shelters, including 2.1 million cats, the ASPCA states.
Gaby said Giselle's future "looks very bright," and she and her kittens are all on the path to be fixed and adopted to loving homes.
Despite potential future health issues that comes from giving birth, "Giselle is young and otherwise healthy, so hopefully she lives a long and happy life where she will never have to be a mother again," Gaby said.
And Giselle's kittens "will be adopted and never have to have babies, which is the best outcome for everyone."
The ASPCA notes that spaying female animals can help them live a longer, healthier life, as it "prevents uterine infections and decreases the incidence of breast tumors." It adds: "Spaying your pet before her first heat offers the best protection from these diseases."
While Gaby loves fostering, it was upsetting to see a seven-month-old cat become a mother at such a young age, but they said it is "something that happens so often."
Pointing out that cats can come into heat at just four months old, they said strays and ferals can become mothers at six months old, which can lead to complications from the mother cat dying at birth or rejecting the kittens.
If this happens, the kittens are brought to shelters, but because of scant resources, unless a foster is found or another mother cat is willing to treat them as their own, "infants are quickly humanely euthanized."
Gaby pleaded for people to look into Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR), a program in which stray or feral cats are fixed and vetted before being re-released without the worry of them having further litters.
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"Another great thing is low-cost or even no-cost spaying and neutering through shelters; most shelters have programs for someone who may not be able to afford a full-price surgery to fix their cat affordably," they advised.
Gaby added: "I think that people should know how amazing shelter and rescue animals are. There can be no ethical breeding of cats and dogs until all the shelters are empty and people learn to spay and neuter."
Giselle's story resonated hugely with users on TikTok, with hundreds sharing their own experiences in the comments, one writing simply: "A kitten raising kittens."
"My cat had kittens when she was only around 7 months old, she plays like a kitten and is still so small," another said.
And one wrote: "Before I got her, my cat was pregnant at five months old. Her babies are now all twice her size. Her growth is stunted and she will always be tiny.
"She's safe now, and can be a kitten forever."
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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