Last winter, while shopping at a local store in Bansko, Bulgaria, Kate Hoare and her partner, Seb, encountered an unexpected surprise. After purchasing their groceries, the couple was reorganizing their backpack in the parking lot when a small figure caught Hoare’s attention from afar. “We were rearranging our bags outside … when this tiny thing started sprinting towards us,” Hoare recounted to The Dodo. Initially, she mistook the figure for a rat perhaps interested in their groceries. However, as the figure approached, Hoare quickly realized it was not a rat but a kitten, desperate for help and safety.
“I initially let out a yelp, and when Seb had looked up, this tiny creature was burrowing his way into his backpack, along with the [groceries],” Hoare explained to The Dodo. “He trusted Seb immediately. He had such a look of desperation in his eyes.” Watch as the kitty jumps into Seb’s backpack:
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In that moment, Hoare gently extracted the kitten, whom she named Stanko, from the backpack. Stanko’s reaction was heartwarming. “I remember picking him up, and Stanko nuzzling his face into my neck with his little claws clinging into my arm,” Hoare shared. Unsure of what to do next, Hoare and Seb decided to take the kitten home with them, unable to leave him in the cold.
Unfortunately, their journey home took a sudden turn when Stanko darted up a tree, startled by a dog’s bark nearby. The couple tried unsuccessfully to coax him down, leaving them distressed at the thought of abandoning him. “We were both uneasy about leaving him there,” Hoare remarked. “The temperatures were low, and he was so little.” The next day, they returned with cat food in hopes of finding him. After several attempts, Stanko finally responded to their call.
“We did one final call for him, and there he came!” Hoare exclaimed. “Bounding over from the bins, meowing, he came to us, and we opened the food. Seb crouched down to pet him, and Stanko decided to climb into his jacket, nestling his little face in Seb’s armpit.”
The reunion was a joyous one, and the trio walked home together. Stanko’s first night with Hoare and Seb was filled with cuddles and purring, which Hoare likened to the sound of a “tiny lawnmower!” Despite their love for Stanko, Hoare and Seb, due to their busy schedules, knew they couldn’t provide him a permanent home. They arranged for Stanko to be relocated to the UK, where he was adopted by their friends, Nia and her mother, Jan, in North Wales.
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“He is now with our friend Nia and her lovely [mom], Jan, in North Wales,” Hoare said. “We get sent videos of him exploring the garden, climbing the curtains, making a general nuisance, but also being such a cutie pie.” Stanko, now affectionately called “Stan,” has found the loving home he deserves. “He is loved to bits,” Hoare stated. “What a little angel baby.”
Thank you to The Dodo for sharing this incredible story. You can see Stan sweetly burrowing into Seb’s backpack in the video below:
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