Grief is strong, but love is stronger.

Losing a cat is such a heartbreaking experience. And as much as we'd want to say we wish no one would experience this loss - it's a part of every cat person's journey with their feline friend. Cats give us only a handful of years to spend with them. We think it's because they're too good, too pure, and too much of them can't be contained by humans. At least this is how we explain it to ourselves - because we dread losing our cats. But life's eventuality is a fact. But still, when your cat passes over the rainbow bridge, it's such a huge heartbreak.

And then there are the cases where a cat passes suddenly, early, without any preparation and guesses as to how many of their nine lives they have yet left to live. That's what happened to one fostering woman with her kitten, and we can't even find the words to describe the grief she must've felt at the moment (and probably a lot longer after). This sudden loss is truly indescribable.

But then again, the Cat Distribution System works in very mysterious ways. Merely days after the kitten she was fostering passed away, she found another in need of a home, who looked exactly like her. And the best part? She didn't come alone…

A few stray pickleballs sparked a $184 neighborhood showdown.

There's nothing worse than a bad neighbor who built a whole pickleball court in his backyard and hosts a tournament every weekend. As we can all imagine, the people who live next to him are not going to be happy with this, not only for the sound and the people cheering, but also because of the balls that trespass their fences and land in their yards… or their vegetable gardens.

In this case, the user u/Educational_Sink8355 shared the awkward situation with his wealthy next-door neighbor and those crazy balls. At first, the players decided to climb over the fence and pick the ball back up. This caused his vegetable garden to be stepped all over, and he realized most of his crops were flattened. He told his neighbor that this should stop, and if they knocked on the door, he would give the balls back.

There was a little gate next to it, and people started to open that door to get those balls, but they didn't latch it properly, and his dog escaped… things couldn't get worse, but they did. The dog got his paw hurt, and the vet bill ended up being $300! He was so furious that he decided to start collecting every single ball and put them in a gallon… and now the problem with the neighbor escalated completely.

The neighbor found out he had a lot of balls that are not cheap and sent him a bill of almost $184 for retaining them. Of course, nobody wants to pay that amount of money, especially after paying that vet bill because of the wrongdoing of a player…

Cats will always cat, and that's a feline fact.

We have yet to meet a cat that wasn't at least 100% cat in their behavior. Some cats might not look like cats, with an odd eye or clipped ears, and even a unique fur color that might make them stand out and look like a different kind of feline - but whenever they do just about anything, it's always totally cat. They sit? It's a very catty cat sitting. They run? It's definitely cat zoomies, which is so cat. They meow? Well, you know… Cheetahs might meow, but that's a cat thing to do, even though they do it.

And all these cat things are not just very cat in the eyes of cats, but in our eyes as well. And why does that even matter? Well, because if you're a cat lover, anything cat can always make your day better. It's how we're wired. Is there a cat in any function? We love it. It's an instant serotonin boost to our brains. It's just the way cat people think - and we wouldn't have it any other way. That's how cat people love cats, and they very cat things they do.

Now, we bring memes into the equation. It's not just the very cat-people thing to do, to consume all this meowgnificent cat content online, but it also features the very cat things these very cat creatures do. And we love every second of it. It's the purrfect combination of cats and humor, which is the best kind of thing for every cat person's soul.

Giving a cat a chance is one of the best things you can do. 

The farm life is coveted by many, but it's not just clear skies and singing birds. Farm life has its caveats, and they're not always what you'd imagine. You might think that the barren distance between farm and civilization is too far, or you might think that roosters will wake you up at dawn. But sometimes it's just the harshness of the outside world without protection that does the most damage, especially if you're a little kitty without a family to care for it. That's exactly what happens in the story below, that is until a family does rescue the little thing. Sativa was born in a neighboring farm's barn and migrated over to his family's place just less than a year ago. The family has been able to approach Sativa and feed him. They also noticed he was much smaller than his sisters and other cats. As he matured, they could see issues starting to arise. They saw he was getting in fights with other feral cats, and someone in the family decided enough is enough. He took him in and took him to the vet. Turns out he needed a lot of treatments, which are all being taken care of. He's really one of the most gentle barn cats around, and he's wearing a pumpkin blossom cone, in proper farm cat style. If this person didn't rescue Sativa, who knows what would have happened to him over time with barn life. 

It was their money. But did that mean they were allowed to spend it whenever they wanted?

If you say you're going to do something, you should probably do it. This definitely includes saving money for your kid's tuition. Tuition is a famously expensive thing, especially in the States. It can take a whole career to plan for and to save enough money to make a meaningful impact. It's not something to be messed with. If your kid is counting on the money you told them you'd have for them, then you'd better deliver. You shouldn't take it away and spend it on something frivolous just because you can. 

Kids famously don't always make the best decisions for themselves, especially when they're on their own for the first time. They may be legal adults, but it can still take a while to figure out a good path. The first year of college can be exceptionally difficult. Not only are you having to figure out how to live independently, but you're probably taking some pretty challenging classes and having to manage your own study schedule. A lot can happen at once, and it's easy to get overwhelmed. Many kids have a false start, or some bumps along the way. Like the young woman in this story, who dropped out of college. Her parents were disappointed in this choice, and held her to it. But was that the right thing to do?

Do you do this one trick to help you survive a rough work week?

Management hates to see us coming, but the truth is, THEY do it too. What magical trick could we possibly be talking about? Well, that would be: Scrolling through memes on the company dime. That's right! Why clock in and lock in when you can clock in and LOL? That sounds much more like the kind of day I want to have at the office. 

Okay, okay, you can't just not work. You have to find a balance. I am all about finding a balance; that's just how the universe works. It's like when you're trying to eat healthy. You don't need to cut all of the foods you love that are bad for you completely out forever, but you need to find a balance in eating them. If you eat too much of anything, it's bad for you. Plus, if you eat vegetables all day, that piece of pie you have for dessert after your healthy dinner is going to taste so much more satisfying. If you're eating pie all day, you won't be able to appreciate it! 

Anyway, I digress. What I'm saying is, find your meme time on the company dime. That means, send an email, DM a funny meme to your favorite coworker; lead a meeting and delegate plans, then scroll through relatable memes that crack a smile on your face; do you see where I'm going with this? Life doesn't have to be all that serious, especially when you're spending like 80% of your life clocked in. It's time to meme and enjoy life, even from behind a desk, at the register, serving plates, whatever! 

Everybody deserves memes during a rough work week. 

Cats and the internet, internet and cats. This is what we do here at I Can Has, and that's why every time I find another place for feline lovers to talk cats online. I'm in.

Although Threads isn't exactly new and has been around since July 2023, and Threads Communities launched in late 2025, Cats of Threads still feels kind of like the old internet. 

It's still new enough to not have an insane amount of inside jokes you have to spend years deciphering, and it didn't develop an elaborate system of abbreviations and acronyms that you have to learn a new language just to be able to like something and be sure you fully get what it means. At least not yet. So it feels just the right amount of fresh and young in the sense that lets people just be themselves and  type "I love cats" hit "post" and have thousands of others relate, like, and comment "OMG ME TOOOOO" or something along these lines, instead of the usual online cynicism we all know (and, most of the time: love).

What I am trying to say is, the internet used to (weirdly) be about human connection. I know because I was brought up by it and had it shape 90% of my personality, and help develop my purrsonality. Because, as we all know, the thing that happened a second after the internet gave us a way to enhance human interaction was, well, a welcomed, endless barrage of felines that continues to this day, and hopefully, for eternity.

On Tuesday, some feline serotonin goes a long way.

Tuesday is a weird day of the week. On one side, the week just started, so you're kind of motivated to have a good one and keep up the good vibes, but on the other hand, you still have a loooong way to go before the weekend. It's okay if you have a weird energy today, since the mind may struggle to know where to sit. But I think I might have something to make you feel better.

By now, we all know that cat memes are a good way to keep the spirits and the good vibes where we want them to be… but I don't think we ever talked about positive cat memes… actually, pawsitive cat memes. Yes, they are the specific kind that we need on a day like Tuesday, so this could potentially be the best approach when trying to survive the second day of the week.

If you're hesitant about the things I'm saying, picture this: a photo of a little kitten, smiling at you, wishing you a happy day. Isn't that a reason to put a smile on your face?

And the best part of it is that you don't even need to be a cat person to feel compelled and motivated by these little faces and tiny paws. Animals are great for lifting our moods when days feel a bit heavy and blue. Although they can't talk (or can they?), they can show us with their faces that everything is going to be okay and that nothing is forever.

That's the good thing about bad days, is that eventually they go away. The same with Tuesday: slowly but surely, the day becomes Wednesday, and it keeps going until Friday comes around, and for sure you'll have a good day on Friday and the weekend. So, if you're feeling a bit too much today, first remember that it's okay and that it will go away, and secondly, enjoy these cat memes that are trying their best at making you feel better.

Warning: cute cat memes might send you off to sleep mid-shift. 

The thing about cats is that they're so multifaceted. Being chaotic and zooming one moment, and off to cuddle you the next, there's no predicting what they'll do, but they always manage to bring a smile to our faces. Even when we've had the worst day, even if our cat misbehaves, when that little furballs sees us upset, he or she knows when to kick cuddle mode into gear. Some people never get to experience the warmth and touch of another person, never get the pleasure of a cuddle. Cats allow us to get the love and care we need without the difficulty around managing how someone else feels. It's too easy to just grab a cat and let him or her fall right to sleep on you. Maybe you're mid movie, maybe you're scrolling before bed, but either way, your cat will make it to you to give you some much needed love. 

When cats are around the people they love and care about (aka their owners), their brains actually release oxytocin. If you didn't know already, oxytocin is known as the "love" chemical. It's released when you feel safe and bonded to someone or something. So when you say you really love your cat you're not lying! There's a whole neuro network of transmitters regulating those feelings of safety, warmth, connection, and love. It's so important that we get that in our daily lives. 

Having the comfort and love from an animal or person is just as important as getting food, water, and shelter. Without care and support, we actually don't develop properly. Our motor functions won't be the same, our cognitive functions won't work as well, and it's a handicap no one wants to live with. So as the winter months preside over us, and as the skies get darker and colder by each day, take the time to recognize how love and connection can help combat whatever bad energies you may be feeling this winter. Use cats and cat memes as your oxytocin IV, and here at I Can Has Cheezburger, there's no stopping you. 

As teachers everywhere prepare their lesson plans for the new school year, this teacher, working as an adult educator, has quit their teaching role. This comes after a supervisor publicly blamed them for problems and berated them in front of students during an exam, prompting the teacher to finally defend both themselves and their students.

What do you do when there is a problem at work that you need to have resolved but your boss and their attitude is the problem?

Through the thick and thin, there's always something to appreciate. 

Our little furry friends mean more to us that we can even express sometimes. We want to do everything for them, and at the same time we could become so engulfed in our own lives that we lose sight of giving attention and gratitude to the tiny furballs. Like in this story below, where a woman found her baby Lint when he was just 8 weeks old in an alley near her work. Now he's 17 years old, a senior cat, and has had some health issues lately. He's been having trouble breathing and wheezing. He spent the night at the hospital, but the next day he came home happy and healthy. Sometimes it takes something like this to make us appreciate what's in front of us, and to reminisce about all the wonderful things we have. 

If mentioning how much you make leads to earning less, "making things fair" starts sounding like the opposite of fair.

I'm convinced that some managers don't know how to be a manager because they get very scared and nervous about confrontation. This story was posted in r/talesfromthejob, and the OP mentions that suddenly his boss cut his paycheck by $3 an hour because they were talking about some coworkers' salaries, and that caused some problems at the store.

Apparently, some people were complaining to the owner that they don't make as much as this person and were asking for a raise. I guess the situation was kind of uncomfortable for this man, who decided to cut this person's salary instead of setting boundaries or giving a fairer explanation as to why they make more than the rest. To keep the peace among the employees, he made that decision, leaving the employee asking what to do.

That's what I mean when I say that some managers don't know how to do their own job…

Firstly, a good manager should be on top of all of their employee's work and know exactly how much they work, how good they are at their job, and as a consequence reflect that on their salary. If the OP is a good employee and knows how to do things, I think it is fair that they make more than the rest. So, the next time people come and ask for a raise, he has some good arguments to defend the other people's wages.

Now, that being said, what's up with the coworker's attitude? I understand that maybe they were disappointed that this person was making more money, but mentioning this to the owner of the store is a lot, because they were snitching on them and revealing they were having a discussion about salary and work conditions… and I'm sure they know this usually doesn't look good when talking to management. 

Anyways, this story shows a lack of empathy and ethics across every member of this store, and multiple people need some serious talk about morals and how to defend the current conditions.

Should she trust her coworker more than her doctor?

I do not know how people can go days without showering. Unless you are a newborn baby or in a survival situation with no running water, there is no excuse for not hopping in the shower for 10 minutes a day and lathering up your whole body. You do not need 10 million different gels and conditioners to be clean, contrary to what some clean consumers believe. As long as you shower, wash your sheets, and wear deodorant, you really can't go wrong. It's not rocket science. 

There are some unsubstantiated rumors going around that you don't need to shower every day if you are generally clean in every other area of your life, and that's just not true. You definitely do not need to wash your hair with shampoo and conditioner every day to be clean, but if the largest organ on your body goes mostly unwashed for days at a time, you shouldn't be surprised that you stink. Just because you don't smell it doesn't mean that everyone else can't, and you should be considerate of other people's nostrils.  

Should smelling badly prevent you from having a job? It is definitely unprofessional behavior, whether you like that classification of "smelliness" or not. But sometimes, it's just as unprofessional to tell someone that they smell as it is to be the smelly person. A professional took to r/Advice to ask what to do about her coworker, who keeps making passive-aggressive comments about her scent. The employee is hygienic, showering regularly, and even went to the doctor to see if this percieved scent could be from some medical issue. 

Employees work for a company, not for every individual customer
 

Malicious compliance is a very fun concept that can even make you achieve great things, but it can also make you lose your job when done wrongly. With these stories, I sometimes feel as if the employees are looking for a way to get fired with cause instead of doing a cool comeback. It is one thing to do exactly what they asked you to prove some kind of point, and it's another thing to purposely mess up at your job just because you wanted to make a customer feel dumb. They may be dumb, but pointing it out is not a cool comeback. It's just reason enough to get fired.

The person in this story didn't get fired, and probably won't, which I'm glad, as I don't want anyone losing their job. But they should get reprimanded, as they drove the customer out of the business with their awful attitude. I, of course, do not agree with acting as the customer did. She was being disrespectful and pretending that the employees were assigned to a customer to follow around, which is insane. But to then, as an employee, bother the customer till they are tired of you and leave the store without buying anything is going too far. There is no reason to act like that when you are an adult. You are working. Behave as if you'd actually remember that.

Getting fired is, of course, not the solution. Here, this employee just needs to understand that work is not the place to be behaving like this, especially if you actually need your job. But this message is more to everyone who acts like this at work. Malicious compliance is a witty way to show that you were right all along, but it's also risky. Some bosses are not going to take it well the fact that they are being "played" by an employee. And others won't like the fact that you drove a customer out of the store, as it's losing business. So maybe cool it off with the malicious one and just comply with your job. 
 

All it takes to become a working purrfessional is a laptop, two paws, and absolutely no idea what you're doing.

Working from home sounds great until your coworker has four paws, zero boundaries, and a habit of taking over your laptop. While most hoomans use computers for emails, meetings, and actual work, cats have clearly decided they're just as qualified to clock in.

Put a laptop in front of a feline and suddenly they're ready for business. Paws start hitting the keyboard, important-looking things appear on the screen, and kitty stares intensely at the monitor like they're handling the company's biggest account. Do they know what they're doing? Absolutely not. Do they look like they know what they're doing? That's what matters.

Some cats prefer a more paws-on approach. They'll type away with both front paws, producing an important document consisting entirely of "ssssssddddddddd." Others are clearly upper management, choosing to sit beside the laptop and stare at the screen while someone else handles the actual typing. Why do the work yourself when you can supurrvise?

Emails are another feline specialty. One accidental step on the keyboard and your cat has either drafted a message, deleted three paragraphs, or sent something before you were finished writing it. Hopefully the recipient understands that "jjjjjjjjjj" is corporate speak for circling back.

Then there are the serious business cats. Glasses on, paws positioned, eyes locked on the screen. These felines look like they have deadlines to meet, reports to finish, and a 3 PM Zoom call they're already dreading. All they need is a tiny coffee mug sitting beside them.

Of course, every hardworking kitty eventually deserves a break. After several exhausting minutes of laptop labor, it's time to close the computer and collect that treat paycheck.

The cultural expectation to tip has extended far beyond the United States.

It is difficult to bring up the topic of tips without things starting to get heated, but most would probably agree that so long as an employee gets paid a fair wage, a tip is something like a bonus and not a constant expectation.

The service industry in the United States operates in a pretty unique way in that the generosity of customers is supposed to supplement the subpar wage of servers, bar staff, and other types of jobs in the hospitality industry, a rule that just isn't followed by most other countries. However, that isn't to say that other parts of the world don't care about tips. On the contrary, there are plenty of places where it may not be necessary, but it is seen as polite. Workers want to be recognized for their efforts.

This can leave customers not knowing where they stand in terms of international tipping culture when they travel. Nobody enjoys being the awkward tourist, and more than that, not many people want to feel like they are being stingy because they didn't show the level of financial appreciation that their server expected.

When you don't want to work, just meow meow.

Monday is here, and we're already tired. But you know us, fellow feline fans, here at I Can Has Cheezburger we have the right solution for these exact situations. When Monday comes around, instead of grimacing and reluctantly leaving the house to start another workweek, we pump our brains with the best cat humor online. And that's done purrfectly with cat memes, of course.

Cat memes are like candy - you can store a bunch in your pocket, do your day, and consume one every once in a while, making yourself feel better. A candy does that with its sweet taste, and a cat meme does it with the hilarious content and cute cat that's inside. And on top of that - while some candies might melt in your pocket, creating a situation you wouldn't want to deal with (especially not on a Monday), cat memes won't do that. They're on your phone, activated only when needed.

Down here, you'll find a sweet bunch of these cutie pies we call cat memes. They're the candy to any cat person's soul, making a Monday much sweeter than it is. Mondays are rather bitter. But with cat memes? Any cat person's soul would be happy.

At this point, we should create a LinkedIn dictionary

I've been saying this for the longest time: I think employers might have good intentions when titling their job offers like this, such as trying to make potential workers feel more important, but the problem is, nobody understands what they're applying for anymore, and everybody is losing an opportunity!

All jokes aside, I would love it if someone on LinkedIn could honestly create a dictionary to help job seekers find better positions. Most of the time, you are qualified, but titles sound so fancy you think the role is out of your league, and it's exhausting to read the long description and try to understand what the company is actually trying to say.

I don't think companies are really going to make the effort to be more transparent when they post their job vacancies; that's why I think workers should help each other learn how to decode them.

Anyways, do you agree with this employee, or do you think he just doesn't get it and is exaggerating? Are the titles unclear, or are they just specific? Maybe it's not that the titles are cryptic; it's that jobs themselves have become less straightforward.

This is pure orange cat behavior, fur real.

Some cat colors have direct links to a cat's biological sex. Get your thinking hats and lab coats on, because this is going to be a little lesson in cat genetics. 

Most cat coat colors are directly attached to an X or Y chromosome. Orange cats are around 65-80% male because the gene that causes their orange coloring comes with the X chromosome. There can be orange female cats, but the orange female must receive two X chromosomes with the orange gene in order to be female, so it is definitely possible, although rare. Even rarer are male calicos, tortoiseshell cats, or blue-cream torties. These cats are almost 100% female, with less than 1% being born male.

Using this purrfectly adorable information, you can usually make some general assumptions about the cats you see, but don't know. You'll more often than not be right if you assume an orange cat is a male, and a calico cat is a female. But, there are occasions when you will be wrong, and in today's case, that mistake can come with a hissterical surprise!

At a routine check at the vet, @hopekithes posted on X brought their male orange kitty with no expectations for anything out of the ordinary. The vet decided to do an ultrasound, and what did they find… but a baby! Turns out her "boy" cat was 1-week pregnant, and their feline family is about to get a whole lot bigger in the next year. 

Although probability is on your side when making educated guesses about your cat's biology, you can never be 100% certain, which is why it's always important to check with your vet first. After making sure you know whether to dress your cat in pink or blue (or purple, who really cares about gendered clothes anyway?), the next thing you should do is get them fixed. Nobody needs more "oopsie" kittens in the world, no matter how cute they are.

Read through all the hilarious comments and community contributions below!

Is it truly so hard for employers not to take workers for granted and pay them what they are worth?

We will never understand why most workplaces refuse to be fair with the salaries they pay employees. 99% of the time, it's not even that employees are asking for huge salaries way beyond their scope or capabilities; they are simply asking to be paid fairly for the work they do. And still, employee after employee, people are turned down when they ask for pay raises or to be fully compensated for the work they do. This leads hardworking employees, who often truly love what they do, to be forced to decide whether they want to put themselves, and the money they make, first and look for other work.

So many employees figure out that they would rather look for other jobs than stay and fight management for something as bare minimum as a fair wage. But even though this cycle has been going on for years, many employers still act surprised when the employee who was refused a pay raise two months ago walks into their office with a resignation letter. For some reason, an employee's choice to leave for a better-paying job is considered an out-of-the-blue decision. Then and only then does the negotiation begin.

The employee in the story below was not only refused a pay raise, but they were refused after they found out that their direct report was making more than they do. Think about how humiliating it must feel to train and support a new hire who, at the end of the day, makes more money than you do. It would make sense that if someone in a lower position at the company is compensated better than you are, you should be paid more too. 

Well, it only makes sense to the employee, it seems, because when they asked for a raise, they were firmly denied. It was only after they handed their employer a resignation letter that the employer realized they messed up, but by then, it was too late. There was no reason for the employee to stay in a workplace that doesn't appreciate them, especially when a better-paying job was already in their hands.