wholesome

Along with their soft bellies, poke-able noses, and squishy cheeks, ears are probably one of the top cat components. They perk up at any tiny noise, they're fluffy and kissable, and they – impressively – can individually turn in basically every direction. And we definitely know that cats can hear all the ghosts around us with these ears, that's clearly why they seem to hear things that we don't. We love cats' ears, so the more ear a cat has, the better, right?

These pictures of cats with extraordinarily cute big ears will hopefully allow you to live the big eared cat dream vicariously through the screen. Because even though we unfortunately can't touch these ears and rub right behind them until these kitty cats purr their heart out, we can 100% still aww at them.

Let us see those orange furbabies! It's true that all types of cats are amazing, Ragdoll, Siamese, Calico, Tuxedo, Black Cats, long-haired cats, short-haired cats, any and all mixed breeds. The list of different cat breeds goes on and on, and while we love and adore them all -- once in a while we like to feature one type and showcases their silly moments, beauty, and overall adorable-ness. 

This week, our spotlight goes to the ginger cats of the world! If you have an orange fluffball of your own, share a pic in the comments below! 

Also, just for fun, how many of you have an orange cat and named them Simba? Come on, be honest! 

So. Many. Adopted. Faces.

Our hearts are continuously bursting whenever we come across an adopted face! We're just so happy to see animals find their forever, loving homes. There's seriously nothing better. 

We say this each week, but it will forever remain true -- thank you to those who recently adopted, who have adopted in the past, and whose who will adopt in the future. You all are heroes. And a huge, monumental thank you to those who adopt senior animals, or animals who are less likely to be adopted. We seriously adore you guys. 

If you missed out on last week's adopted faces -- don't fret -- we've always got you covered. 

Huzzah! We made it through another week in 2020, that's always an accomplishment and means to celebrate! And we love to do so with our amazing user's fresh hot cat memes! That's right, I Can Has Cheezburger's original cat memes -- Lolcats! 

Lolcats is the ultimate source to find the newest and cutest cat memes! Did you know that we currently have the largest cat meme gallery on the web? Yup! If you want to test that out, just go scrolling, and scrolling... and scrolling away! 

This week, we have gathered the top 25 original memes for your viewing pleasure! If you want to join the fun and create a cat meme of your own, check out our meme builder! 

20 years ago, the Burmese roofed turtle was presumed extinct, but today, we have some good news! This huge Asian river turtle, whose face seems to be set with a permanent smile, has been saved from extinction by a group of scientists. After accidentally coming across a few of these turtles, these scientists, over the years, have managed to grow the population of these turtles to 1000 and counting, with some of the turtles even released back into the wild.

Is there anything better in this world than your cat letting you rub their belly? We don't think so. The amount of trust and love that they show by doing nothing more exposing that soft, soft, floofy belly of theirs makes us feel honored. Morning, evening, middle of the night, whenever it may be, if the belly is up and your kitty is asking for you to pet it, you must do so. Take the opportunity while it lasts and hope to impress that little feline enough so that they offer you this honor yet again in the future. 

May this awwdorable, heartwarming collection of cats who love getting their bellies petted give you luck and encourage your kitty to do the same. And if you're in the mood for any other kitty fluffiness, check out these cats with chubby and squishy cheeks.

Cats, cats, and cats. Nothing but cats and that's how we like it! Each week, we love to collect the best cat pics and stories online and present them here. 

Each cat picture, or video, tells a different story and has a different set of emotions behind it. That's what makes this gathering a medley of a variety of things, number one being adorableness (which, granted, all cats naturally have), the second is the much-needed balance of humor, and the last being anything that tugs on the heartstrings (good or bad).

In this case, we have both. We have heartwarming stories of glow-ups and transformations. Yet, we also have heartbreaking moments of mourning and loss. We wanted to take a moment and send love to those who had recently had a pet cross the rainbow bridge. Your pet may be gone physically, but never emotionally, and never, ever forgotten. 

Oh, sweet, sweet doggo thoughts. Is there anything in this world purer than the Twitter handle, "Thoughts of Dog?" The answer to that question is no. 

Thoughts of Dog has been a beacon of light in these unsure times, it's something we can always count on to provide us with some smiles, and some laughter. All we can say is, thank goodness for Thoughts of Dog...  and for dogs everywhere. Dogs truly deserve the world.

If for some unexplained reason, these newfound thoughts aren't providing you with enough wholesomeness, we can always venture back in time for previous tweets! 

We're not crying -- you're crying! 

This is beyond heartwarming! Imagine growing up, feeling/looking different than others, and the moment you go to an adoption center to find your new best friend - they look like you. 

That's exactly what happened when sweet 2-year-old Bentley meet his new puppy. Bentley had already had surgeries for the cleft lip and it isn't even noticeable today. Yet, he came across a puppy that reminded him of himself, and they instantly fell in love with each other. 

The Jackson County Animal Shelter, Michigan, shared this beautiful moment between Bentley and his new puppy on their Facebook, which went viral and racked up 33k shares. 

We wish this perfect pair all the best and many years of love and joy ahead of them! 

Tuesday's are basically an extension of Monday's. We know it, you know it, we're positive everyone feels this way. And because of Tuesday's being just as blah as Monday's, we needed to come up with a dose of cuteness to help us all through it. 

The weekly dose of cuteness is very vital to our nutrition. If you skip a week, please take the other dose as soon as you remember. The best part of this prescription is that you don't need any referrals, and you never have to wait. Each and every Tuesday, you can count on us to provide you with the cuteness you need to get through today and the rest of this week.  

There's always some concern when it comes to leaving your baby with a cat. It's a fair thing to worry about since we know, as cat owners, that no matter how much our cat loves us, accidents happen, and sometimes we get scratched. Despite that, you might have noticed that cats have a tendency to want to be around a baby - smell it, sleep snuggled up next to it, lick its head. It might be because a lot of times babies smell like milk. It might be because cats are just curious creatures and babies are new and interesting additions to their homes. 

There's no obvious explanation for the care cats show to babies, but one thing that we do know is that it is omg so adorable. To show you just how sweet cats and babies can be together, we have gathered 24 pictures of just that to warm your heart and make your stomach flutter throughout the day. 

If you're in the mood for some more animal baby adorableness, here are some pets showing love to their pregnant hoomans.

Three weeks ago, an adorable 5-week-old kitten was brought into Albuquerque Animal Welfare for emergency surgery with her face and jaw crushed. The kitten - Mittens - had to go through multiple surgeries, but unfortunately, in the beginning, they weren't enough. Since multiple surgeries were too expensive for the shelter to cover, the veterinarians that were treating Mittens offered to do the rest of the treatment for free and, in the process, came up with a new, innovative way to help Mittens, using... buttons. 

A terrifying story with a happy ending. Three years ago, a six week old Bengal tiger cub was rescued from a wildlife trafficking attempt at a San Diego area border crossing. Today, the fully grown tiger, Moka, is living happily with another rescued tiger named Nola.

Moka was discovered in the floorboard of a sports car driven by an 18-year-old man who was attempting to smuggle the tiger from Tijuana through the U.S.-Mexico border. As reported by the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy and Border Report, the passenger under whose legs the cub was hidden had at first said that it was "just a cat." The driver, Luis Valencia, when questioned, claimed that he had bought the tiger in Tijuana after seeing someone walking it on a leash and wanted to keep it as a pet. Later, of course, it was discovered that both statements were false, and Luis was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges.

The cub was taken to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and had a surgery that saved his life. At the time, his weight was less than that of the average house cat - just 6 pounds. His name, Moka, means "chance" in Bengali and was given to him as a way of commemorating the story of his discovery. There, he got to meet Rakan, "a Sumartan tiger cub whose mother was unable to care for him," and together they grew up, played, wrestled, and pounced, becoming stronger and happier.

After a few months of care, still only a few months old, Moka was moved into an animal sanctuary called Lions, Tigers & Bears east of San Diego where he met Nola from Louisiana - another now fully grown tiger who was rescued as a cub.

The founder and director of Lions, Tigers & bears, Bobbi Brink, told Border Report that "[Moka and Nola] were both the same age, so they made great roommates, now they're best of friends," as well as that "[h]e's kind of shy but Nola is his strength. She'll be the first one to go out and check out something then slowly but surely he'll be right behind her," and no ending could make us happier.

Take a look at pictures of Moka from three years ago, over the first three months at the safari (with Rakan!) and today below.

Breaking tweets! Start your week with this week's freshest viral animal tweets and see which animals are making news. Laugh at the memes, have your heart melt from adorableness, and get inspired by some incredible photos. 

Week by week, we bring you the best of animal twitter, so if this week's tweets weren't enough, you can always check out last week's. 

We wish you a lovely day, and may you pet a cute cat this week!

Leave all that negative energy elsewhere because, from this point forward, there's nothing but good vibes allowed. Let the goodness run through you as you shuffle through the following collection of pure happiness curated into memes. 

Each week, we deliver you the most wholesome animal memes we can get our hands on because it's the beginning of the week and we all know how much that sucks. At least with wholesome memes, we can embrace the day a bit easier, and hopefully, it'll start our week off on the right now! 

Have a great and wholesome week, everyone! 

Extra! Extra! Watch all about it! 

Once again, we have gathered up the heckin' cutest and silliest cat videos on Instagram and we never ever get tired of such adorableness. If you do, this might not be the place for you. However, we have a slight suspicion you're like us and can't get enough of cat-related pics and vids either. 

Otherwise, you wouldn't be here, to begin with! OK, time to dive into this week's top vids, we've got some real gems this week that need your undivided attention. Starting right... now.