The internet can only go so long before it must make some previously unknown cat into a viral sensation. Some collective urge bubbles beneath the surface of the world, eager to crown another hapless kitty the current ruler of the moment. Over the years, we’ve seen this effect propel Lil Bub, Cinderblock, Grumpy Cat, Perdita, and Jorts into feline stardom. And now it’s time for everyone to hear about Fishtopher, a cat that’s become famous for looking really bummed out.
Fishtopher first came to the internet’s attention with an adoption ad that was highlighted by Molly Clarke and subsequently retweeted almost 22,000 times. Just below images of the cat’s impossibly morose face, eyes seeming to plead for a solution to some indescribable feline problem, Fishtopher was described as a five-year-old domestic shorthair and Bengal mix who “is very sad and depressed.”
Every new detail about Fishtopher from the ad breaks the heart further. We learn that the cat “will only eat when he has company,” was “found as a stray” and might be “missing his family,” and that “he wouldn’t even look up for pictures” when his adoption photos were taken.
Fortunately, only a couple of days after the internet discovered Fishtopher, there were plenty of people interested in adopting him. In a Facebook post from last weekend, New Jersey’s Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center said that the cat’s “sad, fat face” had led to “hundreds of inquiries” and a line of people waiting outside its building for a chance to take home a rising star.
Among them were Laura Folts and Tanner Callahan, a couple from Baltimore who, NBC News states, took a two-hour drive to wait outside for the shelter to open on the weekend. They ended up being the first in line and adopted Fishtopher.
Now, as was probably inevitable, Fishtopher has an Instagram and a Twitter account. He no longer looks sad and his accounts are used to both document this fact and share links to other cats in need of homes. All in all, this seems like one of the better results that could come from an animal looking sad on the internet.
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