When Mallika Chandaria adopted Cloak the black-and-white cat, she was warned the feline was “not affectionate.”
Chandaria, who brought him home from an ASPCA shelter in Boston in 2019, said staff told her he also “didn’t like to be picked up,” but the reality couldn’t have been further from the truth.
In a now-viral TikTok video with over 270,000 views since being posted earlier this week, Chandaria shared a clip of Cloak snuggled up on her lap—something that it turns out, he loves to do.
“I’ve always known that I wanted to adopt an animal. There are so many beautiful and loving pets that have been given up or rescued from bad situations for various reasons. I can’t stand the thought of them being in small cages or in uncomfortable environments,” Chandaria told Newsweek.
It was actually Cloak’s previous owners who reported his aloof nature, something that was then noted on his paperwork. Initially, another family had initially planned to adopt Cloak.
“The shelter forgot to put the ‘adopted’ sign on the cage. I knew the moment I saw him and interacted with him that it was love at first sight,” Chandaria, who lives in New York, recalled.
“I asked the shelter if I could put my information down just in case, to which they agreed but warned me that the family was coming to pick him up in just three days. For some reason, I never lost hope. I received a call three days later from the shelter saying that the family just never showed up to pick him up, and that if I wanted him, I could come that very day. The rest is history.”
Cats are popular pets in America, second only to dogs. The World Population Review, quoting the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) figures, stated that 27.8 per cent of households nationwide were home to a feline at the end of 2019, compared to nearly 40 per cent for dogs.
Among those, Vermont had the highest number of cat-owning households, at 44.6 per cent, followed by Maine at 43.6 per cent, and in third place was West Virginia with 37.7 per cent.
New York, where Chandaria lives, had some of the lowest cat owners in the country, with the state ranking 41st in feline ownership, with just 21.1% of households reporting owning a cat.
For Chandaria, from the moment Cloak arrived home he defied expectations. Instead of being standoffish, he quickly proved to be a loving and affectionate companion.
“The first few days after adopting him, he snuggled right into my lap! He would expose his belly, lick my hand like a dog, and was just overall such a sweet/loving boy. Everyone who meets him falls in love (he will jump right onto a stranger’s lap with no question),” Chandaria said.
Of course, there have been small challenges—like Cloak’s habit of waking Chandaria up at 5 a.m. and his insatiable love for food—but overall, the experience has been incredibly rewarding.
“Once you show a cat respect and love, they will do the same to you,” she said.
Chandaria shared Cloak’s story on TikTok where it has melted hearts, but above all, she hopes that it will teach people not to judge animals too quickly.
“I wanted to spread awareness about the misconceptions around animals that are living in shelters. Not everything you read is true, so if you have an instinct about a pet you see, the best thing you can do is spend time with them and make a decision for yourself,” she said.
“Cloak has changed my life and has given me more than I can put into words,” Chandaria added.
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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