Tears have been shed over a cat who lived on the streets, sleeping in a hole in a wall for shelter—until one man changed his life.
For weeks, 29-year-old Spencer Tawes, who posts to TikTok under the username @.defacs, was keeping an eye on a street cat he discovered hiding in a hole in the wall on the street in Arizona, with viewers following along as he tried to decide how best to help the feline.
“There are a lot of stray cats in the area that I feed, and I could tell with him specifically that he was likely abandoned,” he told Newsweek.
“Most other cats in the area will roam around and run away from people. While he was scared of me at first, he wasn’t running away when I would give him food. He would always just stay in his little area and never leave.”
The cat had sought shelter in a tiny hole, and while he didn’t appear skinny or sick, with plenty of fluffy fur, the cat’s facial expression broke the hearts of animal lovers who watched along, as he appeared to have a sad look on his face in every video.
Over multiple video updates, Tawes debated on what to do with the stray. He began to feed him, pet him, and get the cat to trust him before he could capture him to bring him to the vet and check if he had a microchip, or owners who were frantically looking for him.
But in October, it was revealed that Tawes had taken in the cat himself—and it’s clear the former stray is now loving life as a pampered pet.
In a clip shared to his account on October 2, Tawes began by showing the cat when he first discovered him: cowering in the hole, his mouth pulled down in a sad expression, but never taking his eyes off him
It then showed how the hole in the wall changed: warm blankets were left outside, along with a bowl of dry food, which the cat gladly ate, but disappeared into his hole when the man got too close.
“Eventually he started letting me pet him and became more friendly,” Tawes told Newsweek, adding that the cat was “living in the hole in the wall for a little over a month.”
As the clip goes on, the cat appears to get more comfortable around Tawes, not running away quite as quickly when he gets too close, and instead becomes curious about him, staring at him whenever he approaches.
Until, finally, the clip showed the cat in a carrier in Tawes’ home. He still appeared wary, but was looking around as though cautious but potentially comfortable. He walked up to the man for a pat on the head—and the final shot showed the cat lying stretched out on the bed, looking as though he had been there his whole life.
Tawes told Newsweek that now, two months after taking him home, the cat is “a happy little guy, [and] after a few vet visits, he’s fully healthy and healed.
“He is very talkative and affectionate, always cuddling. He has a classic rag doll personality where I can pick him up and basically place him anywhere in any position and he just lets it happen with zero resistance. He’s the only cat that I’ve had that will lay on my chest and start purring like crazy!”
TikTok users watched the video more than 270,000 times, awarding it close to 70,000 likes, as one compared him to another former feral cat that became an online celebrity: “Sad Boy.”
“Cat has such a sad face,” another said, while one pointed out “his sad eyes…he must have been someone’s kitty.”
“Thank you for saving him,” another wrote, while one said: “Stop I’m crying thank you for taking him/her in.”
In a caption, Tawes asked for name suggestions for his new pet, with commenters throwing out suggestions like “Angel” and “Bilbo”—but one popular suggestion came from one commenter who wrote: “He was living in a wall, so Wally.”
But Tawes revealed to Newsweek that they’ve landed on the name Cheese Curd, referencing his hole in the wall which was right outside a Culver’s fast food restaurant, and they “call him Cheese or Cheesy for short.”
Each year, millions of animals enter rescues and shelters across the United States. In 2024 alone, 5.8 million dogs and cats entered shelters, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Most come in as strays: in 2024, 60 percent of animals in shelters had been found straying.
In Cheese Curd’s case, further videos show the former stray settling on his rescuer’s lap, eating treats, and cuddling up with new toys and pillows bought especially for him. And one emotional commenter pointed out: “His expression changed, he’s happy now.”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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