"Cat Grandpa" becomes viral for napping with pets shelters

Photographs of a retired couple from Wisconsin with their feline friends became viral – melting hearts online and leaving a refuge awash with vows and $ 40,000 (£ 30,000) in donations.

Terry Laurmen, 75, has volunteered at the Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary in Green Bay over the past year.

Established as a cat cafe – with extended armchairs and bird channel on television – the shelter was set up by Elizabeth Feldhausen, 27, in 2016.

She specializes in the care, rehabilitation and repatriation of cats with disabilities and special care needs that may be sidelined elsewhere.

Terry, a retired Spanish teacher, began to introduce himself almost every day with his own special brush to prepare cats.

As a cat lover who travels for big chunks of the year, he is unable to find one, but has always enjoyed volunteering with them.

"Grandpa Cat"

"They all know him, when he walks through the door, they run to him because they know he has the special brush and the special treats." They all pile on him and rub themselves all over on him." Elizabeth told the BBC.

But grooming 20 to 30 cats can become exhausting, and the other volunteers started taking pictures of Terry taking his daily naps with his furry friends.

These images, of Terry and cats curled up on sofas, were posted on Facebook a few days ago and have been shared around the world more than 22,000 times.

The shelter has decided to double the loyal volunteer "Cat Grandpa" – a name he approves – but none can really overcome his new fame online.

"I knew people in our community would like that, but I did not know where it would go," says Elizabeth.

"When I told him how many people had seen his job, he was really happy."

Since their post has become viral, the shelter has been flooded by locals who come to visit cats and eventually see Terry.

Thousands of supporters shared comments on their social media accounts and pledged thousands of dollars to the donation shelter.

Elizabeth says the money will be used to upgrade her old building, which will make her more isolated for cats and add more quarantine rooms so they can take more vulnerable cats.

Terry does not have a computer or mobile phone, so he can not quite understand his popularity online and describes it as "the craziest thing in the world".

"I'm going to sleep a lot but I never thought it was going to happen!" he joked on their Facebook page.

The viral star left his weekend to visit his family.

So what next for the celebrity of the Internet?

"People asked us to make a schedule with Terry and the cats on it!" Elizabeth says.

"I asked him if he would be comfortable with something like that – and he said that he would do anything to get them money."

You might also like: