A cat who never paws for anything left her sad owner in tears with one surprising gesture: ‘It felt like she just knew’

The morning felt slow for a woman moving through a quiet room with a basket of clean clothes at her side. She tried to stay focused on folding, hoping the simple task would steady her mood, though something about the day felt heavier than she could explain. Then, suddenly, she noticed her pet cat walking toward her. On August 6, 2025, she posted about the incident in detail and explained how the feline’s next move left her feeling overwhelmed in a way she did not expect.

Reddit user u/GrabNo1162 said she had been folding laundry on the floor, lost in her thoughts and feeling a little low for no apparent reason, when she noticed her cat approaching. This detail struck her right away because the cat was known to be “usually aloof and proudly independent.” Instead of wandering off, the cat sat on a warm hoodie she had just folded and looked directly at her. Then came the loud purring, followed by a soft paw placed gently on her leg. She wrote that it didn’t feel like food begging or a call for play. It felt unexpected in the middle of an ordinary task.

While she kept describing the moment, she said it was clear it “wasn’t a ‘feed me’ moment, it felt like she just knew I needed a little something.” That quiet understanding stayed with her long after the cat settled beside her. "Totally melted me," she expressed. She ended her post by wondering, “Do pets just know when we need them?” The story touched countless internet users, and many came forward to share their own moments of comfort from their pets. u/MeanSecurity wrote in the comment section, "Yesterday I sat down at my desk to start working, and I was just feeling miserable. And my cat came in and hopped up on my lap even though I didn’t invite her. Made me smile." u/NRNstephaniemorelli exclaimed, "Cat purrs are supposed to be healing, so they might be trying to help." u/CurrencyBackground83 shared, "I was crying because I watched a sad video, and my Golden Retriever climbed into my lap and rested her head on my shoulder for a hug." 

According to Kinship, cats may pick up on human emotions, but how they react depends on their individual personality. Some show their care openly by rubbing against you or kneading, while others give quieter support by staying close or offering a slow blink.

It seems animals can often sense when humans are feeling low, and another recent touching incident proved it true. A woman on a flight was dealing with heavy anxiety when a service dog in the row ahead gently lowered its head through the gap between the seats and lifted a soft paw toward her, almost as if offering quiet support. She later said she was having the “worst flight anxiety,” yet the dog reacted without her saying a word.  A 2022 study found that dogs could identify stress-related chemical changes in sweat and breath with remarkable accuracy, and they respond even faster when a person’s heart rate rises.