When Paris Zarcilla found a stray cat had given birth to four kittens under his bed, the director was both shocked and bemused.
After tweeting about the unusual discovery on 30 May, he began to document the first days of their life in a thread that quickly captured global attention. Needless to say, the world is besotted with this cat dad’s brood - and so is he.
Zarcilla looked after the cats for weeks before taking their mum to the vets to see if she was micro-chipped. On discovering she wasn’t, he made a pledge to care for all five cats and has since been inundated with money and supplies to help give them the best start to life - all from people who barely know him.
Zarcilla, who is from Hackney Wick in London, said he was “overwhelmed” by it all. “I find myself in a state of awe at the generosity and kindness of strangers,” he tweeted.
“I’ve never been on the receiving end of so much positivity on social media but it is unique moments like this that reinvigorate my belief in humanity, which of course is strange because all of this is for cats.”
Over the course of the month he’s had many a sleepless night and has lived through major moments in the kittens’ development including when they first opened their eyes (which almost emotionally destroyed him) and their teeth coming through.
When he discovered the mother cat (who he has since named ‘Forever’) wasn’t chipped, he began to make long-term plans to look after them.
Having never had cats, people on social media advised him to launch a GoFundMe page to raise money for initial supplies and vet bills. He did just that, and set up an Amazon wishlist, and things swiftly spiralled out of control.
Just one day after setting it up he tweeted: “I’m astounded and overwhelmed by your generosity and kindness. ‘Thank you’ is grossly insufficient for the gratitude I have for you all.
“They are OFFICIALLY living a better life than me and THANKS TO YOU - my room is now THEIR throne room B/C YOU BOUGHT THEM ALL THE THINGS.”
Paris has since closed the donation page, which has raised more than £4000. He added: “You’ve all been so beautifully generous and I’m inspired to be the best version of me to give these future home wreckers the best life they can have.”
Something tells us this family of kitties is set for life.
