'Cat Grandpa' goes viral for napping with shelter pets

Day 3,989, 02:10 • Published in India Armenia • by Bombay bomb
Due to my busy schedule, its been long since I published an article or played with a cat! 😃 I recently got the chance to play with many cats and it was very relaxing! I miss one cat in particular so I thought I could publish an article on cats! 🐱

Photographs of a Wisconsin retiree cat-napping with his feline friends have gone viral - melting hearts online and leaving a shelter inundated with well-wishes and $40,000 (£30,000) in donations.

Terry Laurmen, 75, has become a regular volunteer at the Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary in Green Bay over the last year.


A spot of grooming with Terry on one of the sofas is a prize spot for the sanctuary cats


Set up like a cat cafe - with sprawling arm chairs and the bird channel on loop on television - the shelter was set up by 27-year-old Elizabeth Feldhausen in 2016.

It specialises in looking after, rehabilitating and rehoming cats with disabilities and special care needs who would be at risk of being put down elsewhere.


The shelter takes in cats like Willy Wonka, who has diabetes, who struggle to be cared for elsewhere


Terry Laurman, a retired Spanish teacher, visits the Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary to brush the cats with his own special brush.

As a cat-lover who travels for large chunks of the year, he is unable to get one of his own, but has always loved volunteering with them.

But grooming 20-30 cats can get exhausting, and the other volunteers began snapping shots of Terry taking his daily siestas with his furry friends.


Terry and the cats are best of pals

Those images, of Terry and the cats curled up on the sofas together, were posted on Facebook a few days ago and have now been shared across the world more than 25,000 times and received more than 46,000 likes.

The shelter has taken to dubbing the loyal volunteer "Cat Grandpa" - a name he approves of - but neither can quite get over his new-found online fame.

The post of Terry napping with the cats is so sweet it received thousands of comments from people who think his cat napping sessions are adorable.



One person wrote: "This is pretty much the sweetest thing I have ever seen!"

"Terry you are a stellar human. Look at how comfy those cats look, napping with him," another said.

"This guy is amazing I was there one day when he came in! Those kitties were so happy to see him!

"Brownie was literally jumping up in her play pen looking for a treat. Bless his heart for spending time at such a great place," someone else replied.

Elizabeth says the money will be used to upgrade their old and draughty building, making it more insulated for the cats and adding more quarantine rooms so they can take even more vulnerable cats in.

Terry does not own a computer or a mobile phone so apparently can't quite get his head around his online popularity and describes it as the "craziest thing in the world".

"I fall asleep a lot but I never thought this was going to happen!" he joked on their Facebook page.

"I knew people in our community would like it but I didn't know how far it would go," Elizabeth says.

"When I told him how many people had seen his post he was really, really happy."


The sanctuary has been a life-long passion for Elizabeth, who has helped rehome about 300 cats.


Elizabeth says the money will be used to upgrade their old and draughty building, making it more insulated for the cats and adding more quarantine rooms so they can take even more vulnerable cats in.

Terry does not own a computer or a mobile phone so apparently can't quite get his head around his online popularity and describes it as the "craziest thing in the world".

"I fall asleep a lot but I never thought this was going to happen!" he joked on their Facebook page.

The viral star has taken the weekend off from his cat-napping to go home to visit his family.



So what next for the internet celebrity?

"People have been requesting we make a calendar with Terry and the cats on it!" Elizabeth says.

"I asked him if he would be comfortable with something like that - and he said he'd do anything to raise money for them."

Source - BBC, Mirror
Image Copyrights - Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary Inc., Shaunae Teske & Brass Lens Photography



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