If there’s one thing Tuna loves, it’s attention.
The 6-year-old cat typically has to rely on her family for pets and cuddles, but at the start of the pandemic, Tuna figured out a genius way to maximize the number of people who pet her each day.
The source of the extra love? Every delivery driver who drops off a package at her house.
“When COVID started, we all went to work from home and we started ordering a lot — our food, our groceries, stuff to make our house more livable,” Cinthia Santos, Tuna’s mom, told The Dodo. “Us working from home disrupted Tuna’s sleep schedule, so she went outside during the day, and that’s when she started hanging out with the delivery people.”
Tuna has always been a tough and independent cat, but she has a softer side, too.
“She doesn’t like to be alone,” Santos said. “Whatever room everybody’s in is the room she wants to go to. She likes physical attention, on her terms. She likes to be held, pet and scratched.”
Tuna enjoys lying in the sun near her home’s front door. She’s always monitored when she’s outside by both a GPS collar and her family’s Nest doorbell camera, which is where Santos initially noticed Tuna romancing an Amazon delivery man — the first of her many, many boyfriends.
“Once she noticed, ‘Wow, people come here and I can get them to pet me,’ she just started going out a lot more,” Santos said. “It happens periodically. We don’t put her out there on purpose. If she wants to come in, she will meow.”
Whenever Tuna sees a delivery person approaching, she makes it known that she wants a pet.
Even if the delivery person isn’t interested in her at first, Tuna will eventually get her way.
“She’s really persistent,” Santos said. “She will throw herself on the floor, she’ll throw herself against the wall, she whips her tail around. She has different little tricks.”
“She just wants them to pet her,” she added. “She likes to have her cheeks scratched, so that’s her whole endgame.”
Now, Tuna not only brings joy to her family, but to everyone who visits her house. The loving kitty has simple needs, and as long as she has someone to pet her, she’s happy.
“Having her has been awesome. She makes our whole family laugh,” Santos said. “People love coming to our house and meeting her. They think it’s like meeting a celebrity.”