A woman who always believed she “hated cats” was stunned at how quickly she changed her mind when she got one of her own.
Bailey McShan, 27, lives in Houston, Texas, and is mom to a three-year-old girl, who began “loving cats” after her grandma got a kitten of her own.
McShan herself has never been a fan of cats. While she wanted a new pet after the death of their beloved French Bulldog Tina, she didn’t think their other Frenchie, Stanley, would do well with a puppy, even though he had been “super lonely” since losing his friend.
“I decided on a cat after doing more research,” McShan told Newsweek. And any fears that she wouldn’t like having a cat in the house were immediately quashed when she brought home Maine Coon kitten Francesca aka Fran.
In a video shared to her TikTok account @thats_bai on December 10, McShan was lying on the sofa, telling the camera that she has “never had a cat before”, but had brought home an “angel” the previous day, showing off a sleeping Fran in the video.
“It’s been 24 hours and I have never loved an animal this much in my entire life.”
In the video, which boasts over 25,000 likes, she said she has always been “one of those people that’s like, ‘I hate cats. I’m not a cat person.'”
But, showing Fran on the video again, she said: “Absolutely not. I don’t hate cats. I’m obsessed. I love her so much.”
TikTok @thats_bai
She said that after bringing Fran home, she was “skittish” and nervous, but out of nowhere, she hopped up next to McShan on the couch and began kneading the pillow next to her, making eye contact and purring, and McShan had “never seen anything cuter, ever.”
And when Fran moved to lie down, curled up on McShan’s chest, it was all over—McShan was definitely a cat person, telling the camera, “I have never seen anything sweeter in my entire life.”
Maine Coon cats like Fran grow to be large, fluffy animals with a lifespan of up to 15 years and are noted as being ideal for first-time cat owners thanks to their social, inquisitive, and playful nature, according to pet products company Purina.
TikTok users loved the video, as thousands of commenters welcomed McShan into the cat-lovers club, with one writing: “She can wreck your life and you be like: yes, go on. I still love you.”
“When people say they are not a ‘cat person’, they are wrong,” another commenter insisted.
TikTok @thats_bai
Another asked: “Have you become obsessed with smelling her yet? They smell like heaven somehow” — to which McShan replied confirming: “The smell is like a drug!”
And as one put it: “Welcome to cat mom life!”
McShan told Newsweek Fran the kitten is settling right in, and is “getting along great with our three-year-old daughter and our seven-year-old French bulldog.”
She said that the internet’s response to Fran has been “hilarious, and has confirmed that cat people are crazy—but I’m glad to be a part of the crazy cat people community.”
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