For homeless cats living on the streets, staying alive is definitely not easy, and this cat in Korea was just such a case. However, when kind-hearted residents gave her meals, she unexpectedly refused them. Feeling confused, the locals followed this kitten and found a great mystery behind this feral feline’s odd behavior.
Caring for feral animals can be a time-consuming and non-profitable thing, but this unnamed woman in Korea made it her daily routine to feed all the stray cats in her community. A volunteer at a local sanctuary, the woman has offered food in bowls to homeless cats for 5 years. Most of the cats would take the free meal happily, but one behaves strangely for a crazy reason.
The kitty called Dongsuk would come with the others every day, but she never took any of the food. Instead, she would turn away to find other ways to survive. As a cat lover, the woman knew that cats are generally very picky about their diets, and they even reject good food that isn’t the kind they like. Therefore, the volunteer changed her menu, but still, she didn’t get the result she expected.
To test if Dongsuk liked the sort of food or not, the volunteer tried a number of different types of dry food. Surprisingly, Dongsuk turned down every brand and every variety. The woman then tried wet food in the can, but the stubborn cat still showed no interest. The unnamed volunteer had to go back to the drawing board.
Desperate to crack the mystery of Dongsuk’s strange behavior, the woman started to think out of the box. The kitten clearly wanted the food since she would show up the feeding time every day, so the volunteer began to wonder if it’s because of the way the food was presented? One day, she wrapped Dongsuk’s food in a bag. Unexpectedly, the cat grabbed the bag of food and ran off somewhere unseen.
The volunteer was excited to see Dongsuk finally take the food. Since then, she would prepare a special bag of cat food for the felines, and each day, Dongsuk would come, take the bag of food and run off. The volunteer became more curious about the cat’s odd behavior. Where was Dongsuk going with the bag of food? She wanted to know why.
Many questions popped up in the volunteer’s mind. Why did Dongsuk want to eat food from a bag as eating in a bowl would be easier? Did Dongsuk prefer living her life the hard way? If so, then why? To get the answers, the volunteer gave in to her curiosity and came up with a plan to uncover this new mystery. However, she had never expected the truth to be so heartwarming.
Cats sometimes have strange behaviors, but the way Dongsuk acted worried the volunteer very much. Where on earth was Dongsuk taking the bag of food? Originally, she thought Dongsuk might prefer to eat in private. But why? Most of the cats ate happily in front of her. Did Dongsuk not trust humans? Perhaps Dongsuk just gathered enough courage to fetch the food and then scurry off every day. Perhaps there was a more important reason.
To unravel the mystery about Dongsuk, the woman, together with some of her friends, decided to follow the cat. The task wouldn’t be easy because they would have to keep their distance in case the skittish cat would run away. If they were caught, the painstakingly built trust between them and the cat would likely be broken. If so, Dongsuk probably would not show up to eat the meals. Therefore, they must do the following cautiously.
Maintaining their distance, the team followed Dongsuk one day. The farther away from the neighborhood the cat went with her bag of food, the more confused they became. What was driving Dongsuk to make this incredible journey every day? They were about to find out the answer. Dongsuk eventually arrived at the entryway of an abandoned building, which seemed like a set of a scary movie. However, what they found inside was nothing horrible.
Dongsuk walked inside the building, put the bag of food down, and began to pace. Don’t worry, the feline wasn’t summoning something scary. In fact, Dongsuk looked uncomfortable and scared herself, walking back and forth nervously. The team assumed that the cat might have known they were following her, and she didn’t want to eat in front of them. But Was that the truth?
Still waiting, Dongsuk started meowing, and the team then realized that the cat was waiting for something. In a few seconds, out of nowhere, a little ginger kitten showed up and ran right up to Dongsuk. She was a mom! Every day the mom not only found food for herself but also for her young kitten. This is the reason why Dongsuk would only take food wrapped in a bag. It was the only way she could make sure her baby would be fed.
The team went on to watch the selfless acts of this feline mother. After putting the bag of food down, Dongsuk stepped away to let her daughter eat first. The kitten ripped into the bag and enjoyed the food. After her daughter was full, Dongsuk began to eat the leftovers. The volunteer and her friends were brought to tears seeing this real life story of heroism and survival unfold right before them. But the story didn’t end there.
Having witnessed everything Dongsuk had done to ensure her daughter was fed, the team knew they needed to do something more. First, they checked the community to see if anyone knew Dongsuk or had been looking for their lost cat. Sadly, no one claimed ownership of the cat, confirming Dongsuk was on her own. However, some residents were familiar with Dongsuk, and they had a heartbreaking story to tell.
As the team interviewed people in the neighborhood, they learned that Dongsuk had suffered a tragedy. The mother cat had originally given birth to five healthy kittens. Sadly, she failed to keep four of them alive. Life hadn’t been fair to Dongsuk, and the only baby left was her whole world, so the mother cat was determined to keep her alive by all possible means. The mother and daughter needed a happy ending, and the team would continue their rescue mission.
The rescue team wanted to find a way to save Dongsuk and her kitten, but before that, they had to form a stronger bond of trust. To show that they weren’t the enemy, the volunteer and her friends came back to the building Dongsuk led them to and gave her a blanket. Still, Dongsuk and her baby weren’t going to give away their trust in just one day.
After giving Dongsuk and her daughter the present of warmth, the team came to the building every day to make the cats feel normal around humans. Thankfully, Dongsuk came on board quite quickly, but her daughter was less willing to make friends with humans. Anyway, she hadn’t built a previous relationship with them. Dongsuk had considered them as a trusted food source, but her daughter hadn’t, and she only ate the food after it was brought to her.
The team knew they had to be patient to wait for Dongsuk’s daughter to warm up to them. They kept feeding the cats every day. Finally, the tiny kitten became comfortable with them. Even though she didn’t like them very much, she seemed to know they were there to help her. Having earned the trust of both cats, the volunteers knew it was time to take the next step.
The team then planned to move the two cats to a new home. To do this, they needed to use scary tools and nets. Since the cats were still feral, it wouldn’t be safe to pick them up and move them. As much as the volunteers may have wanted, they needed to ensure safety, too. Just looking at the net in the picture, you can imagine what would have happened hadn’t they built trust with the felines first.
Thankfully, Dongsuk and her daughter were safely picked up and moved to a mini house of their own. As you can see in the picture, it was way more luxurious and comfortable than their last home. They even started having their food and water out of bowls. Life was looking up for the homeless cats from the streets. All they needed was a forever home. Apparently, it was also important to keep the two felines together.
The story of Dongsuk and her daughter is one of the most inspirational ones we’ve heard. The motherly love Dongsuk showed to put her kitten’s welfare ahead of her own is pretty touching. This is also a story of the power of doing good. The volunteers set out to feed the cats, but they went above and beyond their duties to give two homeless cats a whole new life.
