A self-described crazy cat lady has gone viral for staging a shoot where she pretends to give birth to her pet. Lucy Schultz, a professional wedding photographer, shared the 32-part photo series to her Facebook page last week, and it includes the full gamut of birthing pics: the agony, the peek-a-boo face, the exhausted mum, the astonished dad, the baby all wrapped up snug.
Except, like we said, it’s a cat.
Schultz has now found herself at the centre of a debate of whether or not there’s such a thing as loving our pets too much. As she explained to local media, she’d wanted a cat for a long-ass time, making this new family member a very special arrival.
“So I’ve been thinking of this idea for a while because I’m totally a crazy cat lady who didn’t have any cats. So, I decided as soon as I got a cat, it’s a big milestone for me and sort of like the hallmark of me settling down and starting my menagerie of future cats, and so the first one is pretty special.
“It was definitely crossing my mind ‘am I really doing this? People think we’re really extra, and it’s the cat that’s the most extra. We were just laughing at his expressions, and how he fell asleep.”
The pics were taken by her friend Elizabeth Woods-Darby, and posted to her Facebook page with the caption:
“On 1/10/18 we welcome our first baby kitten, a neutered male DLH. He is 22″ long and weighed 6 pounds 7 oz. He is already eating solid food. Name to be announced. We are so in love.”
LIKE IT’S A REAL BABY, GUYS. EXCEPT IT’S A CAT.
At the time of writing, her post has been shared over 77,000 times, with comments from the full range of “gross wtf” to tagging in their mates with the line “this is so you”.
I mean… see for yourself.
“Push honey… you can do it.”
Peak-a-boo!
It’s a boy!
Mum and bub, looking tired but happy.
Alright, fuck me sideways, that is a very cute cat.
Honestly, give these two an Oscar nom for their acting here, the commitment is phenomenal.
“You used to live inside me little baby 🙂 “
Schultz said she never expected to be known for “cat birth announcement photos”, but now that it’s happened, fuck it. And she’s also not letting any of the more negative comments get to her, because people are either going to love it or hate it.
“I kind of can’t believe and also can believe that I’m going to be known as the lady that gave birth to a cat. That is something that would happen in my life, but it’s also definitely surreal. It’s fine. It’s like if it’s something that I’m ashamed of, then I would have a problem with it, but I was just so excited to share that I got to adopt my cat, that’s been my dream! But to be known for that? It’s like sure! People might think I’m a little odd, but I am, and that’s ok with me!”
Have a look at the full album here or below. You gotta hand it to ’em, these are some pretty nice photos.
