A cat’s emotional reaction when it was time for the two foster kittens her owner had been looking after to leave has melted hearts online.

Alissa Moulster, 25, and her boyfriend spent just over two weeks fostering Phoebe and Joey, two 6-week-old kittens. The siblings needed plenty of care and support before they were finally ready to make their way to their forever family.

During that time, Moulster, of New York City, could see that her resident cat, Martini, developed quite the bond with the kittens. Phoebe and Joey would often follow Martini around and copy what she did; Moulster told Newsweek that she was “like their role model.”

Having fostered kittens for most of her life, Moulster knows the routine of having to say goodbye and letting them start their next chapter. But when it was time for Phoebe and Joey to leave and go to their forever home, Martini wasn’t ready to let them go.

“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,” Moulster said.

She continued: “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.”

It broke Moulster’s heart to see Martini so upset by their departure. She hadn’t realized just how attached the cat had become to the kittens, or how protective she would be.

“It also made me happy because I saw how much love she had and that she wanted to protect these little babies,” Moulster said.

She added that she has no doubt that Martini is still missing her companions, as any time the door goes, she will “run full speed towards” it. She never used to do that, but now, it’s like she is constantly waiting for Phoebe and Joey to return.

Moulster shared a video on TikTok (@alissaxxjo) showing Martini’s heartbreaking reaction, and the clip went viral with over 370,000 views and more than 62,100 likes at the time of writing.

Alongside the footage, the caption reads: “My heart is aching. Why did I think I was strong enough to do this?”

The online reaction is beyond anything Moulster expected. While many people praised her for helping the kittens, others questioned why she couldn’t keep them, if only for Martini’s sake. However, Moulster said that it was always going to be a temporary foster, and there was a contract in place that stated she couldn’t keep them.

Not to mention, Moulster and her partner live in a one-bedroom apartment with two cats already. So, the idea of a couple more didn’t seem like the wisest of choices.

“I grew up fostering and, when I moved to NYC, that was definitely a piece that I felt was missing from my adult life. 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,” Moulster said.

Martini’s reaction left many social-media users in tears, leading to more than 430 comments on the viral TikTok post so far.

One comment reads: “She has so much love to give for the next group of foster kitties.”

Another TikTok user wrote: “Saying goodbye is so hard, but what an incredible gift to that kitten.”

A third person added: “Don’t do this to my heart.”

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