A woman who is fostering an old cat said the animal ‘hated’ being around her and would feel anxious whenever she was in the room – until she started playing one specific song
The woman’s cat hated being around her until she changed one thing (stock photo)(Image: Getty Images)
Taking in a foster cat is not an easy task, and the people who do it deserve immense praise. Cats may need fostering for a number of reasons – from kittens who need close monitoring before they’re old enough to be adopted to older cats who may require socialisation ahead of being taken in by a local shelter.
No two cats are the same and every foster will require different things to help get them on the path to finding their forever home. With that being said, a woman who regularly fosters cats recently shared her story. She made a strange discovery about her latest foster, as she was having a hard time getting the animal to socialise until she did one bizarre thing.
Charlotte shared a video on Instagram of her foster cat Caroline, who was surrendered to an animal shelter when her owner unfortunately passed away. Caroline was then fostered by Charlotte, who has been having a hard time getting the cat to socialise, as she isn’t comfortable around other people.
Caroline has been staying in Charlotte’s bathroom to give her a safe space away from the sounds and smells of the rest of the house, and not much has been working to try and coax her out.
She said: “She’s not very relaxed in my presence, so I try to ignore her while I’m in the bathroom with her. Sometimes I’ll play songs quietly on my phone, but she never has any type of reaction.”
Content cannot be displayed without consent
In a last-ditch effort to try to soothe Caroline, Charlotte decided to play a song with her name in it – Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. And to her surprise, the cat immediately calmed down.
She added: “The second it started playing, she got up and just stared at me. Then she layed back down and started slow blinking for the first time since she was surrendered. I have played all kinds of songs and she has never reacted in this way. She instantly relaxed after hearing this song.
“It’s this song specifically because I’ve played her other songs by Neil Diamond and other types of songs, and got no reaction. But to this song, she started cleaning herself in front of me, slowly blinking while listening, and just totally calmed down.
“The song Sweet Caroline is quite a popular one, and her owner was elderly, and Caroline has been her name her entire life, so she knows it very well. I think there’s a very high possibility that her owner would play this song for her and maybe even sing this song.”
Playing the song for Caroline did more than just calm her down. Moments later, the cat actually got up and left the bathroom for the first time in the 23 days that Charlotte had been caring for her. She began exploring the house, playing with toys, and approaching Charlotte to take treats from her.
Charlotte continued: “The difference between her right now and her 24 hours ago is insane. It really feels like this song has brought her a lot of comfort. It was just a random decision to play it, but I feel like it changed everything.”
Commenters on the video were moved by the video, with many saying they “got chills” when they noticed the cat’s behaviour changing thanks to the song.
One person said: “Wow, the moment you told us how she reacted to the song, I got chills, and I immediately thought, ‘Oh yeah, her owner undoubtedly played and/or sang that song to her.’ This is HUGE!”
Another added: “Music therapist here! We attach music to memories more easily than anything else, and it makes a lot of sense that cats would do a similar thing. You found the magic song that broke through to her!”
