If you ask me, cats are family. When a cat comes into my life, I treat them with love, kindness, and understanding. For Michaela out of Istanbul, Turkey, she is the proud human servant to four tuxedo cats who considers cats as family, too. And she even has her own little family of tuxedo kitties—which she appropriately refers to as Tux Fam!
These kitties are ready to pose, keep her on her toes, and something tells me that you’ll enjoy seeing their cute photos and learning their story. So, keep reading to learn all about this Tux Fam, which features Dante, Leyla, Lilo, and Stitch…
1. How did these four cuties come into your life?
The first tuxie that has come to our life was actually Dante back in 2018. I have moved into my new apartment by myself and my boyfriend didn’t want me to be alone (we were in a long distance relationship). I didn’t have time for a dog as I was working full-time so adopting a cat was another option.
So, I checked a few shelters and I found one that I really liked and got in touch with them and told them that I would like to adopt a cat. They asked me if I had any preference, but I just told them I would like to give a home to a cat that needed it the most. Dante was found abandoned under the car by himself when he was around 2 months old, and a good stranger found him and brought him to shelter. After basic screening, a few phone calls to check if I would be a suitable owner, they presented me with the smallest and cutest munchkin—Dante and he has been with us ever since!
Leyla came to our life very unexpectedly. Early summer of 2019, my boyfriend was returning home and it was very rainy. Leyla was sitting under the stairs to the house with string tied tightly around her neck, totally terrified and shaking. He sent me a picture and I immediately told him to take her in and feed her and take the string down. I still have that picture and I will never forget the terrified look in her eyes – it was absolutely heartbreaking. He was feeding stray cats in the area so he had food on hand. And here we are almost 2 years later and we kept her. Or rather she kept us 🙂
At the end of 2019 we finally closed our long distance relationship and me and Dante moved to another country to live with my boyfriend and Leyla.
Then Leyla became pregnant, which was unexpected because we had taken Dante to get neutered but the vet told us he “shoot his last shot” (very improbable to happen but it could and with us it happened) and Leyla had 4 babies – two tuxies and two completely black. So, for a while we had six cats. Of course we did everything for Leyla and for babies and everyone was happy and healthy.
The two black kittens went to family members, so we see them regularly and they are absolutely wonderful and beautiful. And we kept two tuxies with us in our family. That’s how Lilo & Stitch came to our life.
2. What are their personalities like?
Dante is the calmest, most trusting cat that I have ever encountered. You can roll him around, pet his belly, squeeze him, hug him, kiss him and he won’t even try to get away, scratch or bite. He loves to play fetch but in his own terms.
Leyla is very reserved. We are guessing that something very bad happened to her while she was on the streets as a kitten. We know she loves us but everything has to be done on her terms. She loves to sleep on our laps while we watch tv but god forbid if you try to pet her and she doesn’t see your hand doing it. As we would say – she has a lot of tuxitude 🙂
Lilo is the love powerhouse in the family! She is the youngest and the most affectionate from them all. She is very playful and loves cuddles and she always has to sleep with us. She purrs everytime we pet her or cuddle with her and she seeks attention every time she is not sleeping.
Stitch is the exact opposite. She doesn’t like cuddles and she doesn’t seek attention. She is very attached to Dante and they always sleep in a box together during night. She is extremely curious and very playful!
Usually they all play together and run around the house and chase balls and watch birds together but it’s very rare to photograph them all together.
3. Do you have any fun nicknames for them?
Actually we don’t haha. When we come from outside they are always greeting us all together so we address them as a group rather than each individually. And of course all of them have to be picked and cuddled separately for them to be happy with the greetings.
4. Do they have any other dog or cat housemates?
I don’t think that we would be able to manage another pet housemate in the house. Taking care of 4 tuxies can be pretty exhausting (imagine all of them being unhappy for whatever reason because cats, at the same time or all of them having zoomies at the same time and running around like a bunch of horses) as we absolutely want to make sure that they have everything what they need and want to be happy and healthy.
5. What’s something special you’d like people to know about your family of tuxedo cats?
It’s not necessary about our tuxedo family but everyone should experience the love of a cat. It is something that is very hard to explain because we personally feel that cats are choosing who they put their trust in. Affection and love is earned and once you have it – you are part of their world and they are the most affectionate, loving little creatures.
We are incredibly lucky that we have four of them (even sometimes the fur can be unbearable especially when seasons are changing) and they have brought so much joy and happiness that we cannot wait for the next morning to see what they will be up to- every day is a surprise and we love it!
Keep up with this purrfect family of fancy felines here on Instagram.
I’d like to give a special “thank you” to their cat mom, Michaela, for allowing me to share the story of her kitties as well as their photos. If you know someone who would enjoy these tuxedo cuties, don’t forget to share!
Did you know that there is a “Cat Town” in Turkey that saves hundreds of homeless cats? Read about it here on cattitudedaily.com.
All Images Courtesy of tux_fam on Instagram
