The Internet was made for cats. Or perhaps cats were made for the Internet? Either way, I think it’s pretty clear that cats + Internet = laughter and joy. From the ‘I can has cheezeburger?’ site to so many subreddits and beyond, cats online have brought so much happiness to so many people. And in the age of TikTok, it’s been even easier to see cats doing ridiculous things, or being adorable little jerks, or just being their precious selves.

Enter Ysera. I only became aware of this precious cat maybe four or five months ago. She had a neurological disorder that meant she could no longer walk. Her humans took amazing care of her (along with her cat siblings). They bathed her, they fed her her nom noms. On Wednesdays she’d knock stuff over – her human Charlie would hold her so she could use her little snoot or paws to knock things off a table. Especially Ranch dressing. That girl HATED Ranch dressing. Charlie would show Ysera getting her stretches, her baths, her food, and give us updates on her health.

But every single video started with the same amazing, sweet refrain: “Gooooooood morning Ysera.” And we’d get a zoom in on her sleeping in her little bed, sometimes with snuggling a stuffie, or wearing bunny ears. I stopped and watched her videos every single time they popped up in my feed, and every time they brought me so much happiness.

On Tuesday, 21 January, TikTok got a bit dimmer, as Charlie shared that Ysera had died the day before. Her human was nearby, so she wasn’t alone, and while Ysera’s health was always challenging, it didn’t seem like she would be gone any time soon, so this appeared to be a shock to both Ysera’s humans and her fans. I’m not sure the death of an animal that I’ve never met has impacted me in such a way. I definitely started crying, and I wasn’t alone. I’m sure part of this is because of everything going on in the world right now – there’s so much awful, and she was such a sweet, simple little light in the world, and just when we could all use that even more, she was gone.

In the past few days, my feed has been full of tributes to this sweet little cat – from other cat accounts, and just from humans who were sad to hear she had died, and I wanted to add a little something too. It’s lovely to see how one little cat account had such a wide impact. I love all cats – they’re all perfect (especially my two little orange jerks), and I can’t imagine how hard this must be for Ysera’s humans and her animal siblings. I hope her humans know how much we all appreciate them sharing part of Ysera’s short life with us. I’m going to miss her.

If you want to look at her videos, you can view them here:

@yseratok