All the cat lovers out there will understand that when a kitty comes meowing at the door, there’s no turning it away. Many of us can admit to welcoming cats that aren’t even strays into our homes, feeding them “just in case” and pretending not to see their bulging bellies and pet collars.

But for every greedy cat that’s looking for extra food, there’s a hungry stray who’s desperate for all the scraps he can get his paws on. Some of these cats have ended up as strays through all sorts of unfortunate circumstances, and while they may prefer to live in the wild, they’re not all cut out for it.

Shea Prior knows all about the desperation of a stray cat when it comes to food. A few weeks back, she noticed a sweet little puss hanging out in her back garden.

While the cat seemed nervous, she was able to trust Prior enough to accept her food offerings.

It was a days down the line that Prior realized her adorable stray visitor was a new mom. She was producing milk, and it was likely that her kittens were somewhere nearby.

Speaking to Bored Panda about her realization, Prior said:

“I was petting her and went to pick her up and that’s when I realized she had milk in and had been nursing some babies.”

Prior knew that she’d have to fully earn this new momma’s trust before she could go on a kitten hunt. So she worked patiently, leaving bowls of food in her garden and giving her some human attention.

She said:

“I started telling her to show me to her babies, and that I bet her babies were so pretty.”

This was eventually enough to reassure the stray that Prior was only here to help. A couple of days later, she led Prior to her babies – and adorableness ensued.

Prior said:

“She came running up to me and rubbed on my leg while making her little croaking noise she does. She led me over to my shed and I looked and saw a couple little fluffballs staring back at me. She flopped over on her side and started calling to them to come out and see me.”

After all that time, the momma’s babies had been living under Prior’s shed!

At first, the kittens were nervous. They’d never interacted with a human before, and they clearly didn’t know what was the right thing to do.

But their momma encouraged them to come out of hiding, and Prior was able to hold and pet them all after 15 minutes of coaxing.

There were five kittens in total, all in various shades of grey, white, black and brown. While Dad wasn’t on the scene, it looked like Mom was handling things fine on her own!

Prior fell in love with her new friends, and decided she needed to take them in. She said:

“I will be adopting mama cat to live with me and my other two sweet girlies! All the babies have found homes and will be adopted as soon as mama is okay with it. But for now, everyone is doing great.”

Prior has even started her own GoFundMe to fund the vet bills for the mamma cat, who she has named “Cricket” after her funny meow, and she has surpassed her $1,000 target already. Her story has touched the hearts of cat lovers all over the world, with many strangers stepping in to contribute generous donations.

We love a stray animal story that ends happily! You can check out Prior’s GoFundMe for more information.

Source: Bored Panda, GoFundMe