The Cat Distribution System Explained—Why Cats Just Show Up · Kinship Leave a comment
In the event you’ve spent any time on TikTok lately, you could have encountered movies of stray cats approaching individuals and snuggling proper as much as their new human pals. Most of the time, these movies are suffering from feedback corresponding to, “The cat distribution system strikes once more!” However this cat is only a stray, proper? It’s not like there’s some better program at work. Is there?
The cat distribution system has turn into a meme of its personal, due to cat-loving social media customers and the propensity of stray kittens to chase down strangers searching for affection. However what precisely is that this idea about how cats find yourself with their human mother and father? And can you ever get to expertise the magic of the cat distribution system your self?
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Major takeaways
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The cat distribution system is a meme began on TikTok round the way in which stray cats typically gravitate towards random individuals.
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There’s nothing magical in regards to the cat distribution system — simply an abundance of cats and kittens with out properties.
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Be cautious of taking in a cat which will have already got a house and all the time make an effort to search out the cat’s human mother and father.
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Skip the cat distribution system and undertake a cat immediately.
What’s the cat distribution system?
So, what precisely is the cat distribution system? Sadly, it’s not an organized group the place you’ll be able to signal as much as obtain the proper cat only for you. As a substitute, the phrase is how TikTok customers — and now people throughout social media — describe the customarily random ways in which cats enter our lives. Principally, the common cat distribution system that means might be boiled right down to this: Folks don’t select their cats, cats select their individuals.
When a stray cat or kitten walks up to a whole stranger meowing and demanding consideration, and that particular person takes the stray dwelling, that is the cat distribution system in motion. You possibly can be on an off-the-cuff stroll at your native park, loading groceries into your automobile, or strolling into the workplace together with your thoughts in your to-do checklist, and a cat may merely seem and alter your life without end — as pets so typically do.
Cat distribution system meme origins
The meme surrounding the legendary cat distribution system originated in November 2022 on TikTok. “You’ll simply be like going to work, you’ll take a break, and also you’ll go outdoors, and there’s a kitten in a bush,” the creator stated in that authentic video. “Now, that’s your kitten.”
Since that authentic video, the phrase has taken off throughout social mediaopens in a brand new tab (in addition to for “ canine distributionopens in a brand new tab”) whether or not used to explain interactions with stray cats or commented on different customers’ posts. A easy search of the phrases “cat distribution system” or “kitten distribution system” on TikTok will reveal hundreds of movies of stray felines approaching strangers, on the lookout for a bit of love — and other people delighted to expertise the cat distribution system in motion.
How the cat distribution system works
The cat distribution system depends on the concept that, while you’re prepared, the universe will current a cat to you, and that cat is now your pet. In lots of instances, when individuals discover a stray cat or kitten, they decide to take the cat in, foster the cat or completely undertake them, main (hopefully) to a fortunately ever after. It feels a bit of like destiny, discovering a cat that matches completely into your own home and way of life.
How do you get chosen by the cat distribution system?
Sadly, you’ll be able to’t apply to be gifted a cat by the universe. The cat distribution system is only a idea — and a random one at that. All of the movies of individuals experiencing this phenomenon are actually simply individuals encountering stray or wandering cats of their each day lives, which is rather more frequent than chances are you’ll suppose.
Is the cat distribution system actual?
Whereas the cat distribution system is only a enjoyable idea with a catch phrase, it bears a bit of little bit of fact. Individuals who undertake pets typically say, “I didn’t select them; they selected me.” The cat distribution idea exhibits simply how frequent this expertise is and the way typically cats present up in individuals’s lives in sudden locations, seemingly out of the blue.
Actual-life cat distribution system examples
“The cat distribution system lastly discovered me!” one Reddit person gushed about their newfound black kitten. “He’s tremendous pleasant and is a purring monster!”
One other TikTok person posted a videoopens in a brand new tab exhibiting off two cats who confirmed up at his home, proclaiming, “The kitten distribution system discovered me.” And this TikTok person posted a videoopens in a brand new tab of a striped grey kitten climbing their leg: “Now we have welcomed Chompers to the household.”
The unique TikTok video describes the cat distribution system because the universe entrusting an individual to handle a cat or kitten. It’s a heartwarming thought that cats could have an innate skill to search out the suitable individuals to take care of them.
The unhappy fact behind the cat distribution system
Whereas it’s definitely true that cats appear to easily present up in individuals’s lives generally, it’s additionally proof of the abundance of stray cats and kittens within the U.S. — a quantity that has been estimated to be round 70 millionopens in a brand new tab. Take into consideration what number of instances you’ve encountered a stray cat in your neighborhood or throughout your commute. The cat distribution system may have an effect on any of us, sadly, as a result of there are such a lot of cats with out loving properties.
Many cats on the road could have already got loving households and houses however may get “adopted” by somebody a bit of too enthusiastic about being blessed by the cat distribution system. And out of doors feminine cats with litters could go away their kittens to search out meals. So, should you see a cat that seems wholesome and nicely fed, they’re most likely simply tremendous and don’t want a brand new dwelling. As a substitute, assist cats who clearly want the care, particularly in the event that they’re injured or ailing or kittens who’re orphanedopens in a brand new tab. And pay attention to packages in your space that carry out TNR (entice, neuter, return)opens in a brand new tab to assist cut back the stray cat inhabitants — which may do extra for yo
ur native strays than taking a single cat in.
Last word: Don’t look forward to the cat distribution system to decide on you
Thankfully, should you desperately need a cat in your life, you don’t have to attend for the universe to bless you by way of the cat distribution system. Go to your native shelteropens in a brand new tab or discover on-line adoption listings on Undertake a Pet to search out the suitable cat for you. Who is aware of: your model of the cat distribution system could also be going to undertake one cat and falling in love with two. There are many cats in rescues and shelters who want love and careopens in a brand new tab, and you’ll be their hero immediately, whether or not the common cat distribution system singles you out or not.
FAQs
Is there a canine distribution system?
It’s a lot much less frequent, however there’s a canine distribution system — no less than in line with TikTok. Stray canines generally wander as much as individuals, particularly in additional rural areas. In lots of instances, these canines are misplaced or deserted, and the one who finds a canine on their very own could select to take them to an area rescue, reasonably than undertake the animal themselves.
How can I undertake a cat by the cat distribution system?
In the event you discover a cat, make each effort to search out their correct dwelling earlier than fostering or adopting the cat as your personal. Kittens could also have a mother caring for them and never have to be “rescued.”
In the event you discover a stray cat, can you retain them?
A stray cat could also be feral or wild and completely able to dwelling on their very own. They could additionally merely be wandering or misplaced and simply have to return dwelling. Concentrate on serving to cats who’re injured, sick, or in any other case clearly in want and let the wholesome, thriving ones fend for themselves.
What do you have to do while you discover a stray cat?
In the event you stumble throughout a stray cat, make each effort to search out the feline’s rightful dwelling. Many out of doors cats wander however nonetheless have loving properties to return to, and also you don’t wish to take dwelling another person’s pet.
