Rescue Cat Visits Beach For The First Time — And Realizes She LOVES To Swim
“Initially she just wet her legs and body, would jump over a few little waves, and then we went deeper and deeper into the water and she would still follow, and now she swims.”
Nathan was found in a box on the side of a busy freeway, along with her mom and two siblings, when she was only a few weeks old. The little family was luckily found and taken in by the RSPCA, and soon, Nathan was adopted into the best new family.
“We named her Nathan at first as a joke before we got her,” Melissa Pietrobuono, Nathan’s mom, told The Dodo. “Nathan is a character from a show my partner and I have watched called ‘Angry Boys.’ But once we brought her home, we actually quite liked the name and it stuck, despite not really being a girl’s name. It still makes us laugh sometimes and we can't imagine her being named anything else.”
From the moment Nathan arrived in her new home, she was absolutely obsessed with her parents, and started following them everywhere they went. Whether they’re watching TV, trying to finish up dinner or sleeping soundly, Nathan is always right there next to them, eager to do whatever they’re doing, as long as she can be near them.
Even though Nathan is an indoor cat, her parents wanted her to be able to experience the great outdoors, and decided to train her to wear a harness and a leash. They live right near the beach, and took her there to practice one day — and had no idea just how much the little cat would adore it.
At first, Nathan was a little nervous being in an entirely new place, but she trusts her parents immensely, and began following them tentatively around the beach. She slowly began to realize just how fun the beach can be. Now, Nathan doesn’t even need a leash when she and her family take trips to the beach. She follows her parents around, enjoying the sand and sun — and even the water.
“The first time, my partner Rian walked into the water; she wanted to stay with him and followed him into the water without any problem,” Pietrobuono said. “Initially she just wet her legs and body, would jump over a few little waves, and then we went deeper and deeper into the water and she would still follow, and now she swims.”
Nathan loves to swim and jump over the waves, but most of all she just loves being wherever her parents are, swimming back and forth around them and riding on their backs through the ocean. The little family goes to the beach a few times a week now, whenever they can, and each time Nathan eagerly returns to the water, defying the biggest stereotype there is about cats. Nathan enjoys other parts of her beach trips, too, like sunbathing and playing in the sand, but swimming will always be her favorite beach activity.
“Other than following us everywhere, she swims, keeps an eye for dogs and any people around,” Pietrobuono said. “She stares down seagulls, but hasn’t built up the courage to approach them yet. When the crabs come out she chases them around also. But most of her time is following us around and getting wet.”
Nathan started life scared and abandoned, but now she has the best parents ever, and will continue to follow them absolutely everywhere — even into the ocean.
You can follow Nathan and all of her beach adventures on her Instagram account.