A woman who rescued two starving cats from a warehouse was shocked to discover one of them was pregnant—after she unexpectedly gave birth on her new couch.
Talai Payne, from Utah, adopted Nala and Rajah several weeks ago after finding them in a severely malnourished state. She noticed Nala seemed unusually large but did not suspect pregnancy.
“I rescued her and Rajah from a warehouse where they were being starved,” Payne told Newsweek. “Little did I know that I was actually adopting a family.”
One morning, about a month after bringing the cats home, Payne woke to find Nala had delivered five kittens overnight—right on her cream-colored couch. “I walked in and saw her sprawled out with the litter, blood stains and all,” she said. “I was stunned.”
Despite the surprise, both mother and kittens are healthy and doing well. “Momma and the babies are all healthy and getting bigger by the day,” Payne said. “I’m so in love. My cat is the best mom—I just check in to make sure everyone’s okay.”
Payne shared the story on Instagram (@talaikay) and TikTok (@talai.kay), where her video quickly went viral. It has since gained over 5.2 million views on Instagram and nearly 900,000 likes on TikTok.
In the clip, Payne wrote: “RIP the new couch, but what is my life.” She later posted an update showing the couch had been fully cleaned, with no lasting signs of the birth.
For now, Payne is caring for all five kittens. Two will go to a family member, and she is still deciding what to do with the others—though she may keep them.
Social media users were quick to react. One Instagram comment read: “A bunch of kittens for a couch seems like a fair trade.” Another said, “Thank you for saving her. She gave birth in a safe place.”
And one user summed it up: “There can always be another couch. These babies are priceless.”
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