A cat owner was touched after an elderly neighbour took a photo of her pet and printed it out for her to keep.
Artist Karen Miele, who lives in Nottingham, discovered the snap of her moggy, Chips, inside an envelope that had been popped through her letter box last week.
The photo came with a short note that read: ‘Your lovely cat. I always look for him. Jean.’
Sharing the story on Twitter, Karen explained Jean was an elderly woman who had lived nearby and had apparently stopped to take a photo of Chips as she passed.
The ‘sweet gesture’ left Twitter users in tears, with thousands praising Jean’s actions.
Karen Miele, pictured, shared the ‘simple gesture’ on Twitter and her tweet has since been liked more than 238,000 times with thousands of people saying the note was ‘lovely’
Karen found a printed picture of her cat Chips, pictured, posted through her door on Friday with a sweet note from a woman called Jean saying she always looks out for the feline
The artist shared Jean’s gesture on Twitter and the tweet has been liked more than 238K times
One person said: ‘Imagine if many more people were like this. The world would be such a better place.’
While another wrote: ‘How lovely and how thoughtful to go to the trouble of getting the photo printed. He is a fine figure of a cat and is very handsome.’
Someone else added: ‘That’s lovely! I love this generation with their perfect and identical handwriting (this could be anyone’s grandma)’.
Explaining the story, Karen tweeted: ‘An old lady took a photo of my cat Chips, went to the trouble of getting it developed and then put it in our letterbox this morning.’
The image, taken through the window, shows Chips reclining on the windowsill inside Karen’s home.
Jean even took the time to write the year on the back of the developed picture of Chips the cat
More than a thousand people commented on the post, with many loving how friendly and ‘wholesome’ Jean’s actions were.
After several asked after Jean, Karen shared an update to reveal they had a mutual friend.
Karen added: ‘A lot of people have asked about Jean and how she might be feeling. Well, it turns out my lovely neighbour @Laurenfreshphoto has showed her all of your comments!
‘I’m so pleased she’s happy. We’ve invited Jean to meet Chips whenever she likes.’
The adorable post also inspired others to share their own stories of making friends with animals.
Karen later tweeted to say that her adorable cat Chips, pictured, loved her thoughtful fan mail
The ‘sweet gesture’ left Twitter users in tears, with thousands praising Jean’s actions. Karen later replied to a comment on her post saying the ‘simple gesture’ made her feel better
One person revealed their own neighbour liked to chat with their cat every week.
They wrote: ‘I used to live underneath an old lady, who every Friday would buy my cat an unbattered fish from the chippy and sit and eat with her.
‘It came to light when Wolfie (said cat) was locked in one day and she left it wrapped up on my doorstep (with a note) instead. Lovely lady.’
Someone else said: ‘I once hugged a weeping elderly neighbour in the middle of Tesco when she heard one of our cats had died. They can really work their way into people’s hearts.’
Dozens of animal lovers shared their own stories about neighbours making friends with pets
This woman said her neighbour would buy her cat a fish each week and sit together for a while
Others shared pictures of their cute cats and said they’d made pals with neighbours as well
One woman said her neighbour stops to speak to her dog through the window every day
Another said: ‘My former neighbor who was slightly deaf made great friends with my cat Lion…..broke my heart to tell him he wasn’t called Brian.’
And one person said their neighbout spends five minutes chatting to their dog each time they walk past.
They said: ‘My next door neighbor comes over every day and stands in front of my window where my dog likes to hang out and talks to him for at least 5 minutes.
‘She tells him he’s a good boy and that she loves him! I hide so she doesn’t know I can hear her and let them have their moment.’