“You never know who will cross your path, or why, but the universe decides when it’s time.” In one of those most popular videos, the same internet emotion is spiced with an additional ingredient: a stray calico named Porch Kitty enters the world of a caretaker and the spots on her back resemble a face so much that people who watch the video claim to be unable to see them.
Within a few days, the cat adopted by @frankwhite1985 was the type of low-stakes mystery that social media thrives on. Several seconds into the video, the dissection of dark and light fur seems to create a kind of a face image- one that many commentators perceive as Jesus. Others offer their own lookalikes, tossing out everything from musicians to movie characters, turning a quiet moment on a porch into a communal game of “what do you see?”
This is known as face pareidolia. It explains how the brain is more likely to see faces in random patterns, i.e. clouds, toast, wallpaper and in some cases fur of animals. Scholars of animal responses to face-like images have observed that particularly people are inclined to perceive a “whole face” behind a few suggestive forms, when compared to other primates who are more attracted by individual features than the general pattern. Practically, that is the reason the coat of the calico is able to make thousands of self-assured identifications in minutes.
Another reason why Story of Porch Kitty is landable is that it perfectly fits the concept of online meme of the “cat distribution system,” the meme that cats appear and select their owners. Frank is a known animal rescuer in this instance, and he is not lacking companions. He has other cats he takes care of, and it is said that Porch Kitty is not that much interested in going inside, which is a fact that most outdoor cats who take care of cats know.
That fact is more significant than the debate on lookalikes. A cat may be welcoming, healthy and still “choose” an outdoor home base; if the cat is belonging to a local community-cat pattern where food, shelter areas and habits have already been developed. To those who find themselves in the situation of Frank, who all at once has to take care of a porch regular, the most useful step is not really a question of deciphering signs but rather of needs evaluation.
An ear tip is one of the practical checks. An eartip is an international marker that a cat is already spayed or neutered out of a Trap-Neuter-Return program. With that available, the advice is typically to leave the cat where he/she is and to aid in his/her stability by providing regular meals, water and shelter. Lacking this and the cat does not seem to be socialized, the humane rule is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR): trap, spay/neuter and vaccinate, and release the cat to the same outdoor habitat.
In case a found cat is injured or very sick, the case is different. Guidelines in the community should advise residents to seek the consultation of a veterinarian and not to attempt to pick a cat up with their hands, as fear and pain may cause a cat to act defensively. In most situations, the kindly way of trapping and transportation is the safer one of the cat and of the human being.
Porch Kitty can be a cat with an exceptionally great design, but the greater lesson is much less demanding: viral moments typically begin with a coincidence, and then they allow a choice. At times such a choice is to laugh at the remarks and scroll on. Other times it’s to simply become the one who sees to it a porch is kept warm.
