When Lori Kayed and her husband, Sal, moved into their new home in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2021, they were excited to meet their neighbors. They quickly befriended the folks on either side — but a few weeks later, another neighbor began showing up every
day.
“We noticed a black-and-white cat hanging around outside, usually in the trees or the window planter box,” Lori told The Dodo.
Whenever the sweet girl stopped by, Lori would happily give her some pets before continuing with her day. But Sal soon began to suspect there was more to the cat's story than they initially assumed.
“He started seeing her more often, like in the morning when he’d leave to go to work, and he would hear her meowing outside the door,” Lori said.
Lori struck up a conversation with her neighbor, who confirmed the couple's suspicion: Luna was looking for her family. Their home's previous tenants left the cat behind when they moved, asking neighbors to feed her.
Heartbroken, Lori set up a warming enclosure on her back patio and began leaving food out daily for the sweet girl, whom she later named Luna.
“At that point, she never left,” Lori said.
The longer Luna stayed in the warming enclosure, the more Lori wanted to bring her inside. But she didn’t know how the cat would get along with her two senior pets, Jasper and Sugar. And she wasn’t exactly sure Luna wanted to be an inside cat.
“[S]he seemed perfectly content outside, I thought she would hate being an indoor cat!” Lori said.
Lori took Luna to the vet to get her vaccinated, dewormed and up to date with flea medication. Then, two months later, Luna finally made the move to go inside.
“The day she scratched on the door is the day she came in,” Lori said.
Luna settled in well with Jasper and Sugar, and despite Lori’s worries, she was happy to have a home again.
“[She] never wanted to go outside after that,” Lori said. “She was a very happy indoor cat, and she got along beautifully with our other pets.”
Sadly, both Jasper and Sugar passed away within the next two years. It was a devastating loss for Lori and Sal, but Luna’s presence helped them through such a difficult time.
“Turns out I needed Luna just as much as she needed me,” Lori said.
After a couple of years in their Boston home, Lori and Sal decided to move to San Diego, California. They packed up their car with all their most cherished belongings, including sweet Luna.
When they finally arrived at their new home in California, Luna couldn’t have been happier. She enjoyed lounging on the patio in the sunshine every day, and soon, her parents took in another cat named Momo.
As much as Luna's family cherished her and her quirky personality, time with their sweet girl was cut short. Luna passed away suddenly from kidney disease after five love-filled years. Her parents are devastated by her loss, but they are so incredibly grateful she chose to come inside and make them her family.
“Luna has made all of our lives better,” Lori said. “I’m so glad we were the ones who moved into the house in Boston.”
