Moving into a new house, it’s not unusual for the new owners to find something the old ones left behind. But one would never expect it to be cats. Yet, that’s just what Julia Davis discovered after moving into her new place in Birmingham, Alabama.
The feline fun began when Julia first noticed a white cat hanging out in an old chicken coop in her yard as she moved in. She shared the kitty discovery on TikTok, and very quickly, the post went viral, earning Julia and her new feline friend more than 16.8 million views. But that wouldn’t be the only installment in the saga of the Coop Kitty.
Chicken Coop Kitty
When Julia Davis, creator of The Little Library, first met the white cat in the coop, she thought he might be someone’s lost darling or a feral guy. His fur needed grooming, and his sweet ears were laced with cuts. Julia also learned he was a lovebug who adores scritches and scratches!
“I figured he belonged to someone since was so sweet,” Julia explained. As it turns out, he did belong to someone…the people who lived here before me. The neighbors told me that when they moved, the kitty was left behind.”
Taking to TikTok to introduce her fluffy buddy, Julia asked followers for name suggestions. Her post racked up millions of views and jumped her 134k followers to more than 646,000. It also brought a deluge of name ideas for the cat. In the end, Julia settled on one of the most popular suggestions in the comments because Cooper seemed like the right name for a cat found in a coop!
In taking up care of Cooper, Julia told Insider, “I kind of fell head over heels in love with this guy.”
“Another Coop Kitty”
Just days after Cooper’s TikTok debut, Julia posted footage of a black cat hanging out on the coop’s roof with the caption, “Another Coop Kitty?” Proving to be a sweetheart of a kitty, Julia’s new buddy earned the name Rufus.
Now, the pair appear regularly on social media, giving their fans regular updates.
The Generosity of Coop Kitty Fans
Thanks to a GoFundMe to help raise money for Coop and Rufus’ medical care costs and an Amazon Wishlist full of needed items fulfilled, Coop and Rufus, have earned more than $10,000 in donations from their already loyal followers.
And it seems Julia will need that money to help with more cat care than she first realized, as lately, she’s been finding “mini Coopers” hanging about the house. As cat lovers know, though kittens are cute, they can get expensive!
And Julia has been touched by the outpouring of support, saying, “It’s hard to put into words the amount of care that people have for these creatures that they’ve only seen through a phone screen.”
“I honestly like to say these cats belong to all of us. Everyone who watches my videos has played a part in their care. It’s been a massive group effort that’s restored my faith in humanity.”
“These cats have a better life than they had before with the help of a community of online strangers. I think that’s really awesome.”
Keep up with Cooper, Rufus, and the mini Cooper kittens on TikTok!
@julia_adavis Drop name suggestions in the comments! Bonus-I really like names that are nouns or names that have shorter nicknames that end in the “e” sound #names #cat ♬ original sound – Julia Davis
Feature Image: @julia_adavis/TikTok
