Resident cat clings to foster kittens’ carrier as they’re taken to new home — the video is a sobfest

In a TikTok video posted by Alissa Moulster (@alissaxxjo), her resident cat named Martini reacts strongly as two foster kittens are taken to their adoptive home. For over two weeks, Martini had shared her space with the kittens — Phoebe and Joey. When the time came for them to leave, she wasn’t ready. Moulster, 25, and her boyfriend had been fostering the six-week-old kittens temporarily in their one-bedroom New York City apartment. During that time, Moulster noticed the kittens following Martini closely and copying her behavior.

"She was like their role model," Moulster told Newsweek. Although Moulster had fostered animals before, she said she had never seen Martini form this kind of attachment. "We knew she enjoyed hanging out with them or found them fascinating, but as we were headed out the door to give the kittens to their adoptive family, Martini kept jumping up on the cat carrier and pulling the kittens down," she said. The behavior was surprising. She added, "We were so confused because we'd never seen this behavior before. We put the carrier on the ground, and she backed off. But every time we picked it up, she would jump up and pull it down so we couldn't leave."

Research supports the idea that cats can experience emotional responses when separated from bonded companions. A study published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science found that many cats displayed grief-like behaviors — such as reduced appetite, increased vocalization, and attention-seeking — after a fellow household pet died. While the departure of foster kittens is not a loss through death, Martini’s repeated attempts to prevent them from leaving reflect a similar kind of emotional attachment.

Moulster also shared that Martini now runs to the door whenever she hears the bell, as if expecting the kittens to return. "It also made me happy because I saw how much love she had and that she wanted to protect these little babies," she said. She also clarified that she couldn’t adopt the kittens due to a prior agreement and space constraints. "We want to foster again someday, but we may change our approach going forward to help my cats not get as attached so the goodbye process is easier on everyone," she explained. The video, which shows Martini climbing on the carrier and blocking the exit, was captioned, "My heart is aching. Why did I think I was strong enough to do this?" 

The video has since reached over 370,000 people, and many viewers expressed both sympathy and admiration, with some sharing their own stories of emotional foster experiences. u/jojojgeyan commented, "Pls your cat begging you to keep it, keep it. It’s OK to foster fail." u/celiaanastasi wrote, "That’s how I ended up with four kittens and got kicked out of the foster family list." u/shelbylynn1107 shared, "I have so much respect for people that are capable of fostering. I could not. I would end up with dozens of cats lol." u/the.adventures.of.suus added, "From a foster to a foster, the goodbyes are always hard, but you gave them a start to their future and there are many more to save. And it’s okay to foster fail sometimes, or 3 times like me." u/oheyitsalex wrote, "She has so much love to give for the next group of foster kitties." 

You can follow Alissa Moulster (@alissaxxjo) on TikTok for more daily-life content.