1 Cat to 100 Million

1 cat.

7 months.

100 million views.

That’s 100 followed by 6 zeroes!

If you’d told me 8 months back that Harvey and I would partner with big pet brands, have an agent, and work out of our own little studio, I would have called you insane.

After all, how could one little kitten so thoroughly change someone’s life?

And to think how different things would be had I kept on scrolling.

Instead, I swiped right and matched with my soul cat. Because Harvey may have needed a home, but our home needed Harvey just as much. That might sound OTT, but I honestly don’t know how else to describe it. Maybe I’ll do a better job of that in a future post, but for now I want to talk about how Harvey ended up adopting us.

I could have just scrolled on through those cat pictures and life would have carried on.

Instead, we entered an alternate timeline because, for some reason (call it a nudge from the universe), I stopped at Harvey’s picture. I felt so drawn to his little face the moment I saw him. Something deep down told me that he was a big missing part our family.

But there was a problem.

We had already adopted four cats (Doug, GiGi, Tiny, and Francesca) into our family. How could I possibly consider a fifth? Well, if Harvey was going to adopt us, I would have to broach the subject eventually.

My husband’s reaction?

“You have to adopt him!”

It seemed I wasn’t the only one smitten by the squishy face, tiny toe beans, and big personality in need of a home!

I’ve spent more time than I care to admit trying to figure out why Harvey called to us so strongly. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that my whole life led to that moment.

Another seemingly over-the-top statement.

But let me explain.

Without going into too much detail, I grew up in a cult. Crazy, I know. My whole life was consumed by said cult. All my family lived in the cult. All my friends lived in the cult. I got married in the cult, had kids in the cult…You get the idea.

To say that the cult was all I knew for most of my life is not an understatement.

“What has that got to do with Harvey?” you say.

Fair question. But I have a point, I promise!

The thing about being trapped inside a cult is it cuts you off from the rest of the world. Cults do that using physical walls, walls built via the power of indoctrination, or all of the above. And if you’re lucky enough to break free of those walls, you suddenly find yourself in an unfamiliar wilderness. And you have to start life from scratch and you have to figure it out all on your own.

No friends. No family. No structure. No support. Nothing familiar.

That’s where we found ourselves not that long ago.

In an attempt to start with a clean slate we sold our house, gave away all our belongings, and spent 6 months traveling around Europe in an RV with a view to settling down in a new country for a while. This, perhaps, wasn’t the wisest choice we ever made. And when one of our kids required medical attention, we had to return to Ireland where we started from scratch yet again.

It threw us into a tailspin, and life kept spiraling out of control.

Then along came Harvey.

And suddenly there was a little bit of quiet in and otherwise noisy world. A little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

In a world full of pain and trauma, Harvey became a source of healing. And not a day goes by where I don’t feel that healing, whether it be when he makes biscuits on my lap, nudges my nose with a “kiss”, or purrs deeply while sleeping on my chest.

Cat moms and dads anywhere will tell you how healing our feline companions can be, and Harvey takes that to the nth degree.

So, I guess it isn’t really that surprising that he somehow ended up providing a measure of healing for people the world over via the internet.

I didn’t have an expectation when I posted his first few videos on social media. But somehow Harvey had several viral videos and 4,000+ followers inside a week.

And it just exploded from there.

Recently Harvey travelled to Scotland for one of our sponsors, Stena Line, one of the main ferry services here in Ireland. He enjoyed three days visiting castles, distilleries, standing stones, and hiking part of the Southern Upland Way.

And who knows what shenanigans he’ll get up to next.

It certainly helps that he’s super cute…even if he knows it.

I mean, how could that cheeky face and cute toe beans not brighten up your day?

So, how did we get here?

Honestly, I still don’t know exactly. But I’ll tell you what I do know without a shadow of a doubt. It was meant to be!

Harvey still loves toe bean stretches, but he’s no longer the sleepy little purrito kitten he used to be. He has a strong sense of adventure and regularly asks to go outside. He loves donning his harness (yes, I can’t believe I typed that) and going for a walk on the local trails or further afield.

Harvey and I can’t wait to share all the adventures we have lined up this year. If he could speak, Harvey would tell you it’s going to be pawsome!!!

You can learn more about Harvey on his social media platforms and of course we’ll post a blog post like this every once in a while, for those who like that kind of thing.

I recently got asked where Harvey’s name came from. That’s another story, and it goes a bit deeper than you might expect, so we’ll talk about that next time.

Love & toe beans,

Harvey & Kayleigh