Every being deserves love and a home, and at the very least a name. 

We take our names for granted. It's a given that when we meet someone we ask what their name is, or share ours. But what if we simply didn't have one? What if no one took the time and care to bestow a name upon us and gives us a nomenclature for our identity? There's a lot in a name that we don't think about. In Reddit's r/CatDistributionSystem, a precious but unlucky kitty goes from no name to Ivy, all thanks to a teenage girl. The cat distribution system works in mysterious ways, and even though it decided to take its time in this situation, Ivy still ended up in a good furrever home. The cat started life as a stray, and her first owned trapped her and gave her a home. That first owner ended up passing, and Ivy was nameless. She went to live with the owner's daughter, but spent a lot of time isolated in a bedroom, and wasn't available for the cat's needs. Then another woman took her in in hopes that she'd have a better life. She once again ended up neglected. 

The narrator met the cat a few times, but she was always on the skittish side and didn't like people. She would hide, hiss, and trusted no one, for good reason. The narrator's daughter who had her got to a point where she decided she couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't give the kitty the life she hoped to, and she considered giving it to a shelter. Then, her little sister, a mere teenager at the time decided she would take her in. She slowly but surely earned the cat's trust. She moved slowly, respected boundaries, and gave her space. For the first time in 4 years, she was given a name, Ivy, as well as a good and happy home. Read the full story below for all the wholesome details. 

Have you ever thought about the cosmic messages the universe sends us? Today it's: Monday moodiness can be mitigated with cat memes. Enjoy! 

The case of the Mondays isn't easy to deal with. Sure, it could be worse, but let's put things into perspective. You have to wake up and go to work on a Monday after a fun, relaxing weekend. It's reason enough to spiral. Maybe that's why the universe invented cats. If you think about it, they're the weirdest animals in a way. Because they're so domesticated and cute, but they're also mischievous creatures who seem to belong to another planet. They're spiritual in their own way, and worshipped in history. Is that a coincidence? We don't think so. They have a way of making us feel better without even trying. As anyone would know, life isn't always easy. If someone says it is they'll probably trying to sell you something. So we all need a nugget of something to cheer us up, make us feel better, and ease the tension in our lives. 

Mondays are known to be bad, and the least you can do is be gentle and loving towards yourself. Use this opportunity to scroll cat memes of sunshine and happiness, treat yourself a bit the same way a cat would have no problem treating itself to your tuna. 

Do you remember that mistake you committed in your first corporate job that made you realize that in every office there are something called "unwritten rules"? Well, today is the day to go back to the memory lane and revival that stories.

In every office, there are some rules that everyone working there knows, but they are never said aloud. The only reason you discover them is because of a mistake you commit that causes you to learn the rule. I think that everyone who works on-site in an office knows exactly what I'm talking about. Especially if they are familiar with the office kitchen. What a place, full of gossip, mixed-up lunches, and loud people. That is the main space of the office, where the real unwritten rules are. Some of them are obvious, such as not touching anybody's food, don't eat something you didn't bring, and clean the utensils after you use them. 

But the real fun starts when you find the not-so-obvious ones, such as the table where you can't sit at 12 o'clock because some people of the marketing department have it "reserved", or that the microwave can't heat your food if the bathroom light is on. Those weird things that nobody realized when they started being like that but now everyone accepts as the truth. In the thread below they are a lot of examples of this second group, the weird, not-so-expected, unwritten rules. 

I remember when I worked at my first office job, I didn't know this was a thing. I sat where I wanted, took the salt from the shelf thinking it was communal, and used the utensils from the office kitchen without bringing ones from home. That last one may feel like normal. Well, little did I know that there was this kind of unwritten rule that some people in the office had priority over the utensils, as we were extremely low on forks, so hire-ups and managers expected new hires to bring their own utensils to have lunch. Not a good thing to find out when you took the last fork from the kitchen. But, well, to these kinds of rules, you have two ways of acting. Either you fight back, or you just comply. In my experience, complying is always better to avoid arguments when you have just been hired. 
 

Sleep with one eye open... your cat already is.

Every cat owner has accidentally taken at least one photo that belongs in a horror movie instead of the camera roll. You weren't trying to capture the next great supernatural thriller. You just pointed your phone across the room, and somehow your sweet little house cat transformed into a sleep paralysis demon with whiskers.

Cats are masters of terrible timing. They're perfectly capable of looking adorable all day long, but the second the lights go down, they unlock an entirely different form. A pair of glowing eyes at the end of a dark hallway. A silhouette silently watching from the top of the stairs. A fuzzy figure sitting perfectly still in a doorway like it's been waiting there for centuries. Throw in a camera flash, and suddenly you're questioning whether your cat has always looked like that.

Then there are the close-ups. Nothing prepares you for opening your camera roll and finding a photo where your cat has six-inch pupils, tiny vampire fangs, and an expression that says it already knows how your story ends. Meanwhile, the actual reality is that this same terrifying creature cried five minutes earlier because someone closed the bathroom door.

Cats don't even have to try. One weird angle, one dramatic shadow, or one split second caught at exactly the wrong moment is all it takes. They can go from sleepy little loaf to ancient guardian of the underworld faster than you can say "pspsps."

The funniest part is that they'll never understand why everyone keeps laughing at those pictures. As far as they're concerned, they were simply sitting there... plotting absolutely nothing suspicious at all. Or at least that's what they want us to believe.

Bruiser's personality seems to double every time he gains another ounce.

Bruiser has officially reached the stage every kitten owner knows is coming. The tiny rescue who once needed extra care is now flying across furniture, discovering new places to climb, and making it everyone else's problem. Fans of Reddit's r/CatDistributionSystem subreddit have been following his journey since he first found his forever home, and his latest update shows just how much can change in only a few short weeks.

Now 11 weeks old and weighing 48.5 ounces, Bruiser has transformed into a confident little ball of fluff with endless energy. His owner jokes that he somehow became possessed the moment he crossed the three-pound mark, because his personality has exploded along with his confidence. In just a matter of hours, he discovered jumping and immediately decided every windowsill, shelf, and piece of furniture deserved to be explored. The apartment has become his personal training ground, complete with parkour, imaginary sword fights, and lightning-fast zoomies that seem to come out of nowhere.

The biggest change isn't his weight or his new athletic abilities. It's how completely he's left his difficult start behind. The sick, fragile kitten is gone, replaced by one who's endlessly curious, loves meeting new people, happily soaks up attention, and seems determined to experience absolutely everything life has to offer. It's exactly the kind of update animal lovers hope for whenever they see a tiny rescue get a second chance.

His owner wondered if it might be time to stop sharing Bruiser's adventures, but the response couldn't have been clearer. People weren't ready to say goodbye to the tiny troublemaker just yet. After watching him grow from a vulnerable kitten into a fearless little explorer, plenty of readers made it clear they'll happily keep cheering him on through every leap, every zoomie, and every wonderfully questionable decision he makes next.

The radar theory

I know I didn't invent this; it's common knowledge for some reason. Things do not become clichés randomly; it's because, over time, they happen over and over again, across countries, across cultures, across everything. This is one of them. I'm not afraid of stating it: EXES DO HAVE A RADAR THAT TELLS THEM WHEN YOU'RE DOING FINE. This has happened to me on various occasions, and it was not even caused by very obvious and tangible things like: I began posting more often; or somebody told them I was doing better. We have to stop underestimating people's capacity to detect very subtle subconscious clues. Phenomena like this might be along the lines of the butterfly effect; they might be in another country and have no contact with you, but they know- trust me, they KNOW.

I'm not trying to install some mystical idea here; I'm actually trying to be realistic and concrete. I don't think exes have this knowledge because they receive information from the astral plane; I think we communicate more things to the world than we are aware of, even if we post NOTHING or tell anybody anything.

Cat shelters are important establishments contributing to cat rescues, but even they can be wrong.

Imagine you had to live your entire life in the streets, or even worse - knowing the taste of home, comfort, love, and family, only to be abandoned on the street to fend for yourself. Imagine that after that, some people would pick you up to a shelter, and you couldn't explain your trauma to them because of a language barrier, and you'd be labeled as "mean" and "feral" because you can't understand what's going on - as if the situation wasn't scary enough. Because that's what happened to the now-cat of @jaxwithatwist. And no, the fact that he's a cat doesn't make this pretend scenario any better - no cat should be treated like that.

There's no excuse in the world that would make me think "That's very wrong, but if it wasn't a person experiencing it, it'd be okay." Just as we're touched by people's stories of endurance, perseverance, and survival - it should be mirrored when the story is of a cat, for example. And it seems that the shelter this cat has made his way to, after fending for himself on the streets, didn't see the endurance, perseverance, and survival of this cat. They didn't even look at his broken and sad soul. They just saw a "mean" cat, planning on releasing him back into the dangers of the streets if no brave-enough person adopts him.

But I'm not here to get angry at shelter workers who deal with a cat in need in such an uncompassionate and rough way. I'm here to celebrate the happy ending, and give all the stage necessary for the caring couple who adopted him. Unlike the shelter people, they approached this scared and scarred cat with tenderness, compassion, kindness, and an open heart. And it's very apparent - because the love they now receive from this sweet boy is through the roof. Because this is the simple truth - if you approach a cat with love, you will receive the cat's love in return. And that's the best kind of love to have.

They say the only way to fight fire is with fire, but we have another alternative. In our opinion, the best way to fight fire is by being a safe distance away while laughing at cat memes and not caring if the world burns down.

There are two different types of people on Mondays: the people who are overly excited about surviving another week, and the people who wish they didn't survive to reach Monday. Spoiler alert, both are terrible. The manic people are obnoxious with their pawsitivity and love to bother the people who feel differently from them. The others complain for at least 24 hours and are insufferable to talk to. We're not here to suggest that you be either of those people, but we will suggest a secret third option that involves both pawsitivity and a judgmental vibe.

This third option involves a few things: furiously fluffy feline funnies, energy for zoomies, and the knowledge that the only thing that matters in life is cats. If you only care about cats, then it doesn't really matter what day it is. Cats are going to do what they're going to do, which means they'll zoomie when they want to, even if it's 3 o'clock in the meowrning. 

Listen, we're not telling you that it's the purrfect solution, but it's certainly better than being an annoying "glass half full" or a "glass half empty" kind of purrson. Instead, just knock the glass over, enjoy some funny cat memes, and live your life the way you want to. 

It's time to RTO

It's hard to think it's all for the best when you just signed the lease on an apartment 45 minutes away from the office you now have to return to. Some things we can't predict, and sadly, we simply have to adjust to. I don't think the company was basing its decisions on what would be suitable for every employee, but more on what was more suitable for the company itself, obviously. That's what every company does. Not because they're inherently evil but because it's kinda impossible to be suitable for everybody. I don't know how big the company this employee is a part of is, but if it's small, he can very well have a chance to discuss things.

There is a dark side to rescuing animals, and the line between doing good for them and keeping yourself afloat is a more slippery slope than most people think.

Adopting any sort of pet is a financial burden. Whether it's a pedigree cat from an esteemed breeder or a free cat you saved from life on the streets, you are still going to have to prepare yourself for 12+ years of expenses to take care of them. Now, is the financial burden between one cat and two cats huge? No. But you save one cat, then you find another who needs your help. And another. And some kittens from a mom who wasn't spayed. Before you know it, your house is full of cats you've become emotionally attached to, and you have 10 cats to bring to the vet for medicine, shots, not to mention all the litter, food, and enrichment supplies you need to buy for them. 

When do you have to learn to say no? This is what our pawrent from Reddit's r/catadvice subreddit is tackling now. She rescued a whole colony of stray cats in her neighborhood, 10 cats to be exact, and now she's struggling financially. She's also a mom and a wife, and her home life is starting to suffer from the strain of taking care of all of these cats. 

It's hard because she's grown attached to these cats. She saved them, but they are taking away from her quality of life. This is the "dark side" of rescuing animals that we were talking about above - when you give too much of yourself to save them. Cats are sensitive creatures, and if you are stressed,  they will be too. Scroll down below to see what advice the cat community gave this cat mom who is on the brink of bankruptcy. 

Why would you expect someone to do something for you if, in the moment, you could have done it for them, you decided not to do it?

If you had a friend that you even considered your BEST FRIEND, and when their wedding came, they not only did not pick you as their maid of honor, but they also started using you as one without inviting you to the bridal shower or anything. Would you still be friends with them? I don't think so. The story below has some sad parts, as every story about a falling out between friends, but I think that the most awful part was the fact that the friend who got married first decided to take advantage of the user telling the story. Which simply proves that she was never a good friend indeed. 

The first bride wasn't only a bad friend. She was also an entitled mean girl. She saw the opportunity to take advantage of multiple people at the same time to get what she wanted, and she took it. She used people she knew had money as her bridesmaids so they would organize and pay for a really expensive bridal shower. Then she used her best friend as some kind of servant that helped her organize the wedding without even inviting her to be one of the bridesmaids. 

What a good thing karma is. This annoying bride got exactly what she deserved. No bridal shower, nobody helping her out at the wedding planning, a stressful wedding party, and the loss of a really good friend. If she just asked her best friend to be her maid of honor, she would have had a great party before the wedding, some help with all the planning, and would have also been the maid of honor of her best friend during her wedding. Now she's not even invited to the wedding of her oldest friend. And she deserves it. I really love the stories where people get exactly what they deserved. She tried to use people and got payback instantly. Next time, try being a nice person, and maybe things won't turn out so bad. 
 

Is there anything more peaceful than a cat sleeping in a cozy position? Some curl into neat circles, others manage to fit in the space between two cushions, and others steal your bed blanket. But all cats look completely content when they curl up to sleep. And if there is a sunbeam? Perfect. That spot becomes their reserved seating.

Hey there, tired human. I know you've been lacking sleep lately, so I made this post for you. I mean, you should probably get some sleep, but in the meantime, you can watch these cozy cats and feel the vibe. Maybe your week started tough; maybe you couldn't get the rest you needed during the weekend because you made so many plans, maybe you weren't ready for the week to start again. I feel you. So I've summoned the masters of coziness and sleepiness so this post could get to you. I hope you feel better.  

If your brain could leave your body for ten minutes, it would probably reappear as a cat sleeping in a cozy rectangle of sunlight. Everyone knows that cats know rest better than anyone else. So if you need more rest, just learn from your cat. OR else, scroll through these cozy cat pictures and feel the sleepy vibe. These cats are so comfy and cute that something will be fixed inside you after you see them. I promise.  

These cats can't teleport you to a warm and comforting patch of sunlight, but they can make the day feel lighter for a moment. And most probably, at this time of the year, you wouldn't want to sit in direct sunlight anyway. The heat would cook you alive. You'd better stay indoors near a fan and a cold drink in hand. But that's why this feline therapy is all mental. Let the cats soak up the imaginary sunbeams for you and embrace the cozy cat philosophy: let yourself slow down and rest without feeling guilty about it. You may not sleep for sixteen hours a day like them, but you can still take a peaceful pause and then continue with your week.    

What does a workplace "red flag" look like to you? It turns out, they're difficult to decipher.

College is never easy, not for students, nor for teachers, but everybody gives their best to finally get their well-earned degree. Administrators and advisors play a fundamental role in all students' lives. They guide them and help them with all the tedious bureaucratic paperwork. They're there for us and keep the motors running. Without them, everything would be a lot more chaotic than it already is. 

Us students, value these helpers very much throughout our studious lifetime. That's why it's even more disappointing to see the educational institution, itself, work against its own students. Redditor u/mods-begone was not only underappreciated, but also overworked by his superiors. They diminished him, spoke ill of him right to his face, used him like a scapegoat, and so much more. And the red flags were there from the beginning!  The day he started working for that department, SIX PEOPLE had already resigned. 

It is more than justified for him to leave that place and find a position that is best suited for his character and abilities. One with bosses who are actually professionals and don't have the need to diminish the people who help them. One would think that, since they're all college-educated people, they would have better manners and be actually reasonable. However, as life makes sure to teach us, people oftentimes don't meet the minimum criteria for human decency and basic understanding of social rules. This Redditor realized he would never get out of that poor workplace with that kind of attitude. Plus, he still has his whole career ahead of him. 

It's silly that we call it a 'PTO request' when we shouldn't really ask for anyone's permission to use our much-earned time off.

We should all make it a habit to never ask for permission to take our vacation days. Instead, we should simply email our manager saying, "Hey, I will be gone in these days; please plan accordingly" and call it a day. They can say no as much as they want, but as long as you gave them enough of a heads-up, their inability to plan ahead should never be your problem.

Most jobs don't even require that much planning ahead anyway. You simply take the time off, and your work can wait the few days it will take for you to return. Unless it is a matter of saving lives, nothing will happen if you're gone, clearing your mind and ensuring you return with actual energy to do the job properly.

When your absence means that someone else has to cover for you, then it is your boss's responsibility to make sure there is someone to do that. As long as you gave them enough time to prepare, it is not your concern whether they succeed or not. You should be able to go on your PTO regardless of whether or not your boss finds a replacement for you in time. And if they don't, well, all it sounds like to us is that your boss is going to work a little bit extra while you're away.

But under no circumstances should you give in to your PTO request being "denied". You don't ask for permission; you provide a proper notice, and that's that. They can say no as many times as you want, but you will not be here to discuss it during your PTO time.

If that gets you in trouble once you're back, then that workplace might not be a place you should spend your time at…

Kittens need their mothers, but sometimes, the mother and kittens need help from humans as well. 

Being a cat mom is one hard job, even without nosy humans sticking said noses into these moms' business. That's why we have entire hilarious collections of pictures of cat moms overwhelmed with the realities of parenthood. It's why, oftentimes, when new cat moms live with humans, these cat moms bring their babies to their humans for babysitting duties and go nap in a different room, recuperating from working hard. From the outside, it's hilarious and silly, but for these moms… they are exhausted, working their cute fluffy booties off, and they don't need extra problems in their lives. 

In the story shared on r/blackcats, one woman decided to be a whole problem. She didn't want cats on her roof, so she just decided that the newborn kittens she found on there should be moved. Without searching out the mother to trap her and move her with the kittens. Without caring for the kittens herself. On the roof, a group of teenagers was bringing food to the momma cat and kittens, but this woman didn't warn them either, and didn't bother bringing food for the kittens herself. She just decided to be a problem. 

Thankfully, another neighbor found the kittens where she had dumped them, and they were not going to stand for something like this. They tried explaining first, letting this woman know that kittens need their moms, but she didn't care and wouldn't listen. So, the neighbor took it in their own hands, and fast forward later, the kittens are reunited with their mom, have a great human taking care of them, and a forever home already found for all of them with a friend of the person taking care of them. 

You don't owe your family anything, especially if they don't even make the effort to know you or your children.

There is this belief that if it's family, then you must love and cherish them, just because family is stronger than anything else. Well, I'm here to break that dangerous social construction. Dangerous because it is common for family members to take benefit from that. Just because you are related to someone does not excuse them from mistreating you. It also doesn't make them forgivable for anything they do. A family member is just that, family, not someone special or a nice person. That depends solely on their way of behaving, not on the familiarity they have with you. 

The main problem with believing that just because someone is related to you, they are an excuse to do anything is that it makes us unhappy by forgiving every single bad thing they do. Also, if ones you decide to act on their behavior, for example, cutting ties with them, well, then it is probable that other family members start excluding you because you were not good to family. As if just because someone is family, they are entitled to do anything they want, and you have the unavoidable task of accepting it. 
 

In the story below, we encounter a grandad who doesn't really want to make an effort to have a good relationship with his daughter or grandkids. Then why is it the mom's responsibility to keep in touch? Why does she have to organize to go visit him? If he doesn't want to take time to know his family members, why should she make the effort for him? Just because it's family? Well, no. Family works both ways. If you stop making an effort to care for them, then they owe you nothing. Family IS conditioned on whether they are interested in forming a meaningful relationship or not. It's not only about being related. It's about taking an interest in family members, both ways. 
 

Another Monday, another desperate need for some pawsitivity first thing in the morning. 

I don't know about all of you guys, but during strange times like these, I have really been looking for every single thing that could uplift my mood. And it's been a surprisingly tall order. For me, as I was growing up, the best place to go do that was the internet. I would log on, search out my favorite sites, like ICanHasCheezburger, for instance, and I would look at adorable pictures of cats all day long. After that, it became all about social media, but even on social media, things used to be simple. Clicks were worth less, so there was no crazy algorithm to chase, no clickbait, no ragebail. It was funny cat memes and other silly things that we all loved. 

Today, things are even more intense. I log onto my Twitter account, and I see chaos. A wasteland of content, moving at the speed of light. I remember everything and nothing at the same time. And the one thing that I search out - the cute and silly cats that used to make me so happy online are drowned out by all the madness. Still, people like me - like us - are on Twitter, fighting hard to keep cats' position as the rulers of the internet fully intact. And that cat content that is drowned out is still worth seeing. It's still ameowzing. So, I have decided to personally do the digging for everyone. I search through the wasteland every single week and bring you the best of the best that cat Twitter has to offer - the funniest, the cutest, the most viral. Here, you have it all without all the noise and chaos that surrounds it. Cats and only cats to start the week on the right paw. 

Is it the teacher's or the student's responsibility when the entire class performs poorly?

That is a difficult question to answer, and the response will depend on who you ask. Almost all members of my family are teachers, so I guess I might be a little biased. Still, one of the most important skills a teacher needs to have is the ability to do some self-reflection and evaluate their own methods. They are constantly learning, as much as the students, which is why that self-reflection is so important. Not all kids learn in the same way, and every class is different. 

I understand that it must be a huge hit to any teacher's ego when their students like another teacher better. It's really easy to always blame the kids for not studying, not being interested in school, or being too lazy. And don't get me wrong, that is one hundred percent possible and often true. But it is also true that some teachers have the ability to make the students feel more engaged. Then again, teachers have many responsibilities, and it is not humanly possible for them to cater individually to every single kid's interest; they have a program to stick to. It's a never-ending cycle and a never-ending debate. 

For Redditor u/Being-Wordy-2000, it was a bit of both. Their division was usually problematic, and that didn't change, but they met a math teacher who made them feel interested in the subject. So much so that they outperformed other divisions during exam week. That was suspicious to another teacher, who ended up accusing them of cheating.

Both the students' and the teacher's sides are understandable. If the teacher already knew how they usually performed and behaved, it could be suspicious to suddenly see them act so differently. And the students must have felt frustrated by the accusation, since they were doing exactly what all teachers expect from other classes. The issue is not the distrust itself, but the motives behind it. The teacher was motivated by jealousy and a crushed ego, and students should never have to take the blame for some adult's inner insecurities.

Relationships and cat kids are complicated. Often when they end there is a lot of shouting, bargaining and begging related to the feline fur baby whom you had both raised. But this story shows what happens when it all goes wrong and your ex does something completely unhinged.

Coming to us from Reddit's r/bayarea subreddit this story tells the tale of a poor feline fur baby who found herself stuck in the middle of her pawrents' parting. And through the fog of war, she suddenly found herslef being whisked away by her cat dad to the other end of the country, and subsequently left to fend for herself on the streets of Cali. a heinous thing to have done to a cat, but luckily one that will not cost too dearly for the feline who was properly chipped, meaning that the rescue who caught him could promptly call mom and tell her the good news.

However, this is where things got tricky. Being at the other end of the United States means a car ride is simply too long and a flight would be the only available option for their reunion. Problem being that cats need an accompanying hooman to fly alongside them and our cat pawrent protagonist sadly could not afford the air fair. But after posting about her sorry situation on Reddit, one kind cat lover stepped up to take their burden on her shoulders and shell out the cash and time to bring this cat kid home to mama. Safe to say it was once heck of an emotional reunion.
 

It is a well known fact that cats love a box to squeeze into. Some have posited that it might be because they feel self conscious because of their fur and want to show us hoomans how slim and trim they actually are. But those are nothing more than baseless opinions, what we have fur you today are some straight up feline facts from hoomans who have actually figured out why cats love sitting in boxes so darn much.

Cats squeezing themselves into boxes, or generally enjoying a good box is a surprisingly common topic on Reddit's r/cats subreddit. Pawrents fawn over how cute the habit is, how when and where their cat kids curl up in their boxes and of course as this list aims to answer, why in fact do our feline friends so very much enjoy the confines of a cardboard box? After all, what could they see in this flimsy, single use piece of overgrown paper? Maybe us hoomans are missing something?

And as it happens, we hoomans have indeed missed a whole heap of stuff when it comes to cats and their cardboard boxes. Now first off the facts we have found apply to all boxes not only cardboard, but cardboard is a central figure considering how readily available our online order boxes have become. Second, we want to get the obvious out of the way, a box is a safe space for a feline, after all, they too are prey in certain situations and need a place to feel safe, secure and hidden from their predators. The rest of the rather interesting reasons we will leave for you to discover. Just be warned that the reasons are that good that you yourself might end up in a box by the end of it.