The phrase "barely any cost to you" is one of the most reliable signs that someone is about to ask for something expensive

There is a whole genre of family financial requests that works by reframing someone else's hard work as a resource that should be shared on demand. The logic goes like this: you have something, I need something, the gap between those two facts is your problem to solve, and if you disagree, you have forgotten where you came from. It is a guilt trip with real estate ambitions.

When we say that cats are lifesavers, we mean that quite literally.

It's stories like this one, from Reddit's r/Cats community, that remind us why we love our job so much. You have to understand that we see quite literally hundreds of rescue stories per day, so you could say that we're a little jaded when it comes to these kinds of heartwarming tales. But this one reminds us of the true power of cats - the meowgical ability to help someone not only find love for something else, but love for themselves.

Our cat lover was ready to give up on life. The darkness had all but consumed them, but some tiny, desperate meows pierced through the darkness and found them. They got up and found the source of the meowing, a smol, shivering, soaked kitten hiding underneath a car on a rainy night. They took the kitten in to warm them up for the night, and as soon as it fell asleep on their chest and started purring, something changed in them. If they didn't look after this kitten, who would? If they gave up, what would happen to this purrecious, tiny thing? 

This kitten saved their life, and they're not the only one to say that. Cats give people a reason to wake up every meowrning and a reason to come home every night. They force you to be responsible and stick to a schedule, and most impurrtantly, they give you love unlike anything you've ever expurrienced before. It's a beautiful thing. It's also a reminder that, despite all the darkness in the world, there is still light to lead us to hope, and if you're lucky, there's also a cute kitten to pick up along the way.

'I never imagined that a stormy night in the park would change my life forever.' - Baz Paws

Cat lovers may be a lot of things (eccentric, quirky, introverted, etc), but one thing you can't fault them for is always putting an animal's needs before their own. We just can't help it. If we find a smol, rain-soaked kitten on a stormy night, no matter how inconvenient it is, we'll take them home, give them a warm and safe place to sleep, and figure the rest out tomorrow. That's what happened to Baz Paws in his YouTube video. He found a "kitten" alone in the rain and took it home. But, as the kitten grew, he realized that this wasn't a normal kitten at all.

This fluffy baby didn't really "meow" like other cats. He wouldn't eat his dry food and only nommed on meat. The biggest shock was when he started growing… and never stopped. He just grew. And grew. And grew. And grew!

By the time the "cat" was an adult, it was already adjusted to living indoors, and couldn't be released back into the wild, so now the man had a full-grown Pallas' cat running his life and taking over his apartment. They had to get to know each other all over again, because manuls are wild cats and not meant to live indoors. He has to buy meat for all his meals, he treats his territory different than normal indoor cats. He says it's like living with a giant grumpy furball, that secretly loves him like a pawrent. 

Now, you know that we have to put a disclaimer here: you should never attempt to raise a wild cat as your pet. Always contact the appropriate authorities, like a wildlife rescue organization. You don't want to become the next Joe Exotic, do you? As fun as might seem to live with one of these cantankerous floofballs, they are wild cats, and are not meant to live a domesticated life. The chances for a very dangerous "oopsie" are not worth it. 

But, what's done is done, and at the very least, we can live vicariously through him. Enjoy this hissterical and awwdorable video below showing their unique connection as pawrent and feline.

Something as good as a gathering with friends can end with the discovery that your friends aren't who you thought.

A cookout with friends, music, and decorations sounds great. Well, it can go wrong quickly. When somebody hosts a gathering, the guests are expected to either contribute or bring something so that the burden is not only placed on the hostess. This is common knowledge among most people and cultures, but that doesn't mean that everybody respects it. When you organize something like this, you have to be aware of how your friends behave with this and then make the decision of whether you want to host or not.

In this Reddit story, the user described that when he realized that a lot of people –who aren't his friends– were going to come, he figured that he would have to pay even more, as those people didn't have the behaviour of contributing to them. When I read that the story changed the topic to me, it went from being screwed over for money to pay for some other people's party to the lack of manners that some individuals have.

Being a decent human being involves not expecting everything to be taken care of by somebody else, especially if you aren't even friends with that person. The entitlement that the people in this story had is incredible. First, the friend expecting this user to pay for everything just because, then the other friend that started to invite people without consulting or even contributing anything, and lastly the guests who did not care who was paying for everything as long as it wasn't them.

Maybe the problem wasn't just the friend, maybe it was the whole friend group, with their lack of accountability and the poor manners they have. 

The family cat may not have asked for a younger sibling, but that rarely stops them from getting involved.

Every family has that one cat who acts completely indifferent to everything. They don't want to be bothered, they don't care what's going on, and they're definitely not interested in whatever the humans are doing. Then a baby arrives, and suddenly the same cat is showing up for every nap, every feeding, and every minute of tummy time like they've been promoted to assistant parent.

Cats and babies make an unexpectedly great team. They're both curious, unpredictable, and capable of turning the most ordinary afternoon into complete chaos. One minute the cat is minding its own business, and the next it's investigating a stroller, inspecting a pile of toys, or squeezing into a crib that clearly wasn't designed for feline occupancy.

The funniest part is how naturally many cats seem to accept their newest family members. Some become cuddle buddies. Others take on the role of watchful supervisor. And then there are the cats who decide every baby item that enters the house is actually a gift for them. If there's a bassinet, they'll sit in it. If there's a play mat, they'll claim it. If there's a pile of freshly folded baby clothes, they'll be asleep on top of it before anyone can stop them.

Somewhere between the shared naps, stolen baby blankets, and daily supervision sessions, these cats become more than household pets. They become part of the furmily. The tiny humans may not remember these early days, but they'll grow up with a furry friend who was there from the very beginning, making life a little softer, sillier, and more memorable.

Somewhere along the way, "the cat" became "my son."

Some dads spend Father's Day golfing, grilling, or relaxing with family. Cat dads spend it with a furry child sprawled across their lap, a phone full of cat photos, and absolutely no say in where they're allowed to sit.

Being a cat dad means willingly rearranging your entire day around a creature who weighs ten pounds but somehow runs the household. It means waking up early because breakfast is apparently an emergency, sharing your favorite chair without complaint, and learning that every cardboard box entering the house now belongs to someone else.

The best cat dads don't just care for their feline companions. They become their favorite hoomans. They're the ones handing out treats, providing warm laps for naps, and pretending they don't enjoy baby-talking their cats as much as they do. They may joke about being in charge, but everyone knows who really makes the rules.

That's part of what makes cat dads so easy to love. Beneath all the jokes about litter boxes and cat hair is a genuine bond between a man and the feline who chose him. Whether they're raising a kitten, caring for a senior cat, fostering strays, or spoiling a beloved rescue, cat dads show up every day for the furry family members who depend on them.

Today's cats are celebrating the dads who never say no to one more treat, one more cuddle, or one more photo. The dads who proudly tell stories about their feline children and secretly love every second of being wrapped around a cat's paw.

Happy Father's Day to the cat dads. Your feline children may not say thank you, but they do have a funny way of making sure you know you're loved.

Very distant family member's funeral or your kid's dance recital?

Blended families can be hard sometimes. There is some kind of expectation floating around that you have to love the blended part of the family the same as the one you are biologically related to, and usually that is very possible to achieve, but not always. It is hard for some people to pretend they care that much for people who aren't biologically related to them, especially when no emotional bond was ever built with them. In those cases, is it really necessary to pretend? There are people that we like and people that we don't, pretending we like everyone the same, just because they are family, seems very hypocritical.

In this Reddit story, a mom is forced to choose between going to her father's mother-in-law's funeral, whom she explained they don't usually visit or have a relationship with, or going to her daughter's dance recital. There wasn't really a choice to make. She had decided from the beginning that she preferred her kid's activity over anything else. Her father was quite understanding at first, thinking she was going to come to the funeral alone and was just explaining the absence of the rest of the family, but that was not really the case. The mother wasn't going to go either. She had a previous commitment that she preferred. 
Hearing that someone is putting other people over you is hard, is understandable that the father feels taken aback and the mother-in-law finds it improper, but the truth is that the decision was up to the mother. She is the only one capable of dividing these things for herself. If she prefers to be present at her daughter's dance recital, then there's not much anyone can do. They can be mad at each other all they want, but that won't change the mother's choice in the matter. 
 

Kindness comes in many forms. Adopting a terminally ill cat might be one of the purest. 

Whenever this story was first shared on r/cats, the person who rescued this stray cat didn't know that she had so little time left. They bonded with her, spent time with her as a stray, and tried their best to gain her trust. Eventually, she allowed them to get close enough to take her to the vet, and that's where things got a little more difficult. 

Someone else in that position might have acted differently. Getting the news that the 2-year-old cat you rescued and bonded with doesn't have a long time left would be heartbreaking. Someone else might have been unable to deal with the heartbreak and would have left the cat with the vet or at a shelter. But the right thing to do - the kindest thing - was to make sure that this cat spends the time she has left in the best way, the happiest that she has ever been. And that could mean only one thing - the person who bonded with her, showed her that humans can be trusted, who she chose has to choose her back. 

This person had two months total since adopting the cat before the vet told them that the treatments for her FELV are no longer working. But since the kitty still seemed happy - grooming herself, eating snacks, and purring - the vet and the owner decided that she needed to go back home. It could be for hours, could be for days, they don't know for sure. All they know is that she needs to be where she is the happiest, purring for hours in her human's lap, dreaming, snacking, and being loved on as much as humanly possible. 

If you knew your company pays you less than 5% of what you earn them… would you stick around?

Unless you know how to get an inside look at the company's financial sheet, it's quite impossible to know exactly how profitable you are to the company you work for. Obviously, they make money off of you; they wouldn't have hired you, but exactly how much they have left after they pay your salary is not public knowledge that you can easily access.

When your job includes working with clients, you might be able to get a better idea of how much your work earns the company if you manage to find out how much the client is paying them. If a client pays your company $50,000 for your work, and you get $10,000 out of it, well, it should be easy enough to calculate your profit compared to the company's. Then it's up to you to decide if that's a fair trade.

The employee below, who worked as a UX architect for a company, discovered that while a client paid the company $70k for their work, they only earned about $1500. This meant that their employer sold their work for x23 what they paid them, and we can all agree that this is a terrible trade.

The even worse part was that the employee never got a chance to quit after finding that out, and instead got fired by the greedy boss. Luckily, the employee was not left without a job for long, as they quickly joined the client's company and started doing the work in-house, while the original employer was left without their biggest client.

By firing this employee, they signed the company up for failure, and within a year, the company completely crashed. All while the UX architect got to hold on to their actual work, and get paid much more for it…

They shared their full story on an online community, and you can read it all down below. Scroll down to do so, and after that, check out this story of a manager who bans employees from sitting on chairs during their shifts.

Cats remember the people who show them kindness, and sometimes, they repay these people with… more cats. 

Cats are way more emotionally intelligent than people give them credit for. They see cats' serious, no-nonsense expressions, and they think that cats just kind of- don't care enough to notice what we're thinking or feeling, let alone do something about it. But this is wrong. The people who think this are people who have not studied cat behavior for half a second in their lives. Cats not only recognize kindness, they remember it. And then, they shamelessly use it. 

Cats domesticated themselves, did you know that? We didn't need to do anything. They saw an opportunity for an easier life, a spoiled life. They saw that we were weak for their cuteness. And they used that. And they keep using it. Cats are so intelligent emotionally, in fact, that sometimes, they not only use our kindness for themselves, they use it for their whole families. R

eally, the person who retold today's story on r/cats should have known the risk that they were taking when they fed this stray cat. They already have cats of their own. They should know cats well enough. But they fell for the trap. Show a cat kindness once, and if that cat turns out to be a momma cat, don't be surprised if you have a lap full of kittens within the week. 

When did RTO become more expensive than going to a nice dinner?

We all had heard those crazy stories of workers going back to the office, only to find out that their productivity decreased or it wasn't really necessary. However, nothing really struck me like the story I'm about to share with you today. This anecdote was posted in r/remotework, and many Redditors were so confused as to why these people had to go back to an office only to work isolated.

Let me explain a bit more about this situation. According to u/Embarrassed-War9550, the company insisted on going back to work collaboratively, so everyone packed their laptops and went to the office, like every other person. When they arrived, they realized that management had built these "collaborative pods" to enhance concentration. As you can imagine, the goal was another one.

Essentially, those were actually phone booths, with a telephone, a desk, and a chair, created for people to take Zoom calls, etcetera. In other words, workers were commuting to the office, paying for parking… only to end up working exactly like they did at home. Is that the best way to start the week? Or even your "back to the office" story? (Sarcasm, please).

The best part for me, and what made me feel a bit better about the story, is that every employee had to fill out a survey after the workday, exposing their thoughts on that "genius" phone booth idea. And let me just say that the majority didn't keep their mouth shut, and just played around with the options, the same way leadership had played with them.

You know what we need more than anything right now? A moment of comfort. No, a meowment of comfort. 

If comfort is something that you are looking for lately, we completely understand. And not to get too personal, but things have been kind of hectic lately. We're not even talking about the world being upside down. We're pretty sure that we're used to that by now, at least somewhat. We've been so focused on the craziness of the world, we kind of forgot that we have enough of it in our personal lives too. We need comfort for ourselves - for our mental health. One of the things that helps us, of course, are our cute cats. We can't come home to them and not smile. But the other thing that helps… you know what it is. 

Cat memes of all varieties are keeping us stable. Our cats are not always available. We're at work, they're at home. But funny cat memes… they are always there. No matter what we are doing, we always have a couple of minutes to spare for them. We make the time. Because we need them. We need that meowment of cat comfort in the middle of the day so that even the glumest day has a point of brightness in it. 

Have you ever helped a struggling friend out and as a thank you received stealing accusations? 

There are few things more frustrating than realizing that someone you've spent years helping has apparently decided you're the villain in a story that doesn't even make sense. We've all had that friend at some point. The one who's always going through something. The one who needs a place to stay, a ride somewhere, a favor, another favor, and then one more favor after that. And because you care about them, you help. Not because you're keeping score, but because that's what friendship is supposed to be.

The problem is that some people get so used to receiving help that they start treating it like an entitlement. What gets me isn't even the missing $100. Honestly, the money almost feels irrelevant by the end of it. The real issue is the logic leap. Imagine losing a dispute with your bank, waiting months for a response, being told that no error was found, and somehow concluding that your friend must have stolen the money.

How do you even arrive at that conclusion? I think what makes situations like this so upsetting is that they're rarely about the thing people claim they're about. The $100 isn't the problem. The ATM isn't the problem. The denied claim isn't the problem. The accusation is just the final symptom of a friendship that was already falling apart. Because if you genuinely trust someone, your first instinct isn't to accuse them of theft. I don't think that would ever be an option to me. 

An emergency key is meant for emergencies, not for secretly moving your adult son into your daughter's place without even asking for permission. 

Have you ever said no to something, but your parents suddenly decided your answer just didn't matter? I don't know why some parents feel so entitled to access your personal stuff, ignoring the fact that you're actually a different human being who has a voice, a different opinion from theirs, and more importantly, property rights. This situation crosses so many lines that I don't know where to start. 

I understand that if your older brother is in a difficult situation such as a breakup, and needs a place to stay, you would want to help him if you can. But helping doesn't come at the cost of losing your personal space for an indefinite period of time. What's more, this woman knew his brother wasn't exactly trustful for her to believe it was really going to be a "temporary" thing. She valued having her own home space and her privacy. She had worked very hard to achieve that. And her brother is also an adult, so he's old enough to find another solution without inconveniencing his sister. Naturally, she refused. 

But it didn't end there. There's more to the equation… The parents stepped in. And not in they best way imaginable. Since they didn't seem to care about her decision, they gave him her emergency key anyway, stepping over their daughter's choice and breaking her trust. So, yes, changing the locks sounds like a reasonable thing to do if you ask me. Otherwise, there's no guarantee that your family won't step over you again.

Just had lunch? Time for a nap. 

It's summer. It's typical in the summer that people get exhausted more easily. The heat can be enervating, as well as the sun shining on us. If you feel yourself getting more tired and exhausted in the next couple months, just know that you're not alone. There's a purrfectly reasonable explanation and it has to do with the weather. That's why Mediterranean climates tend to have a slower paced lifestyle. Places like Greece, Southern France, Italy, and Spain all have something in common, and that's the feeling that there's no rush to your day to day. That's why the siesta exists. 

A siesta is the tradition of taking a long nap in the middle of the day, typically after your lunch. The sun is out, you just ate a bunch of delicious food, and you're feeling too tired and full to continue your day right now. Why not take a break and nap? It's not a matter of laziness, it's really beneficial to us. Studies have shown that short naps can improve alertness, mood, and cognitive performance, which explains why so many people instinctively crave a little rest in the afternoon. There's also something so cozy about a siesta. You can sleep off the lunch you just ate instead of powering through the work day with a bloated belly. You can feel like a person again, and that's a beautiful thing. 

And let's not forget that cats love to sleep too! They love their nap time, and you best believe they're also taking a few hour siesta in the middle of the day. If we truly worship cats, then why not follow in their footsteps and do a little nap with them? Here's to siestas. 

Companies seem to love you when you are great at your job, but hate you when you seek a raise for your overwork.

The corporate world is crazy, filled with bosses who love micromanaging, workloads that increase when you are good at your job, and salaries that get stagnant for years just because. Workers are always the ones paying the price for the company's inefficiency. If a worker leaves, another one is given double the workload. If a boss makes a mistake, then the worker is responsible out of respect. This is not fair, and the fact that we accept it just proves the desperation we have for these jobs.

In this Reddit story, we see all of these situations. We are shown the reality of corporate jobs, workers being screwed over a thousand times till they leave. There is no impulse –aside from the normal paycheck– to do more, to put effort in. No benefits, no raises, no escalating. Working more and doing your best doesn't matter. On the contrary, it just means that bosses and higher-ups can use you just because you are not fighting back. They take advantage of your lack of power to fill you with more work than you can actually manage and expect that you're happy with that. Well, this worker wasn't.

Maybe this malicious compliance is just the only way a worker can feel like they are making a change, as if they are getting back all the unrecognized effort. The lack of rewards for hard-working employees will only end with unsatisfied workers who do not even do the bare minimum, as they realize it actually doesn't matter anymore. Whether they are great or the worst, the paycheck is the same, and nothing ever changes. 
 

It really is the best birthday surprise when your "tadpole" becomes a kitten.

In Reddit's r/CatDistributionSystem, a couple go to the pet store to take their son to get a birthday gift. They had the intention of getting him a tadpole or fish, something low maintenance that they don't have to care for too much. They already have two elderly dogs at home, and don't want too much hassle. Upon getting there, they see that there's a couple foster cats in the store that their son was gazing at. He wanted a cat instead, and to the couple's surprise, they didn't say no. They almost lost their cocker spaniel, so they were thinking it could be a healing addition to the family. The foster cats were adult females but they needed to go through a process to match, so they didn't want to wait. They went by the animal shelter to see if there were adult female cats there, but instead they fell in love with a little tuxedo kitten. He immediately climbed into their arms with sweet purrs. It was the purrfect fit for the family. It's neither a fish, nor a tadpole, nor an adult female cat. But they love everything about him. Read the full story below. And for a touch of cuteness to the story, they want to name him Tadpole! 

Are you entitled to park your car in front of your house if the parking is completely public?

While we all want to answer 'yes' to this question, we know that most often not the case. If the parking on your street is completely public, anyone can park their car wherever they want, even if it's right outside someone else's front door. You can ask them nicely to let you park your own car in front of your home, but street parking is notoriously 'first come first serve' and there is not much you can do if they refuse your request.

That being said, if someone is acting completely entitled and basically being annoying about always parking in one spot and refusing to give it up, there are still things that can be done. While you can't force someone out of their public parking space, there are still some tricks you could use to teach them a lesson, and maybe get that parking spot all to yourself. It all depends on how much you want it and how far you're willing to go while still following the rules.

The residents in the story below are dealing with a neighbor who not only parks one car in front of their front door, but she actually has two. One car is completely out of use, while she manages to always park the other in the space in front of someone else's home. Every time she leaves, and they try to park there, she magically shows up again and takes the spot. In all the time they've been living there, they only managed to park in front of their own home once.

While there's not much they can do about someone else taking a public spot before they do, they can still get back at this entitled neighbor. After all, there are plenty of rules against unregistered cars in most living areas, and if at least one car is gone, there is a whole new parking spot up for grabs. Keep scrolling to read the full story posted on Reddit.

Losing a cat is horrible, finding a lost cat is amazing, but the unknown of the in-between is very weird.

If you're a cat parent, raising your cat child with love and care, you know how scary the thought of losing them is. We're not talking about cats crossing the rainbow bridge from old age - it's extremely sad, but at least something you can prepare for and expect, knowing your cat has led a great life before their passing. But when a cat goes missing, when you literally lose your cat, as plain as day - it's a very scary thought. We hope no cat parent (and no cat!) will go through it.

We almost lost our cat this way - when she was a few months old kitten, she fell from the third-floor window because she wanted to chase a bird. We later found her, scared and alone, hiding in a bush. After a vet visit, to make sure she's okay (mostly, she was), we took her back home. This was six years ago, she's alive and well. But… the thought of the potential to never find her again is a haunting one that we really prefer not to think about. But there's even a more overwhelming and weird thought we're glad we didn't have to deal with - what if we've found our cat, but we were not sure she was our cat at all?

This is exactly what one family is dealing with. Their cat went missing two weeks ago, and then she came back… they think. Actually, they are so unsure if they really found their cat that they turned to the wisdom of the masses. They posted pictures of their cat and "their cat" side by side to ask the online feline family if they really think their actual cat found her way back home. What do you think? Look below, maybe you'll get an answer we didn't think about.

Meow it up, it's the weekend!

Weekends with your cat are the best weekends you can have. Sure, there are many fun things anyone could do on the weekend - like going on a trip or a hike, experiencing new places, and what they have to offer. Maybe visiting family or friends, hanging out with the people you keep close in life. Or just hang out by yourself and chill, recharging this social battery of yours. There are other things people might decide to dedicate their weekend to, even if they're less fun - getting ahead on chores, or learning something new.

All these things are true, but what we stand by strongly is that whatever you choose to do on the weekend - with a cat it's even better. Cats make everything better, and it's even more true and present on the weekend - when you're not occupied by work, errands, or the general stress of midweek madness. Because when a cat is there with you, you're always better off.

If you choose to dedicate this weekend to a fun activity, like hiking outdoors, you can always take your cat on a leash. If you hang out with friends or family, these are just more people who are there to love your cat. And if yoy just chill by yourself - better do it with a purring cat on your lap, because it's that much better. And even if you're busy being a busy person, running errands, or doing chores around the house - having a curious cat by your side is always preferable.

And if you're already with your cat, just please let them know we love them. Pet them a little extra for us, and maybe give them another treat. Say it's from the feline-loving folks of I Can Has Cheezburger. We love all cats, and your cat is definitely included.