Mike Usher was taking care of his uncle’s house on the US Virgin Island of St. John when he heard a faint mewing sound outside. He searched several times around the house but to no avail. Then, after six days of thorough searching, he found what he described as “a gift I never thought would happen.” It was a tiny, five-week-old kitten.
“I finally found her, tucked away, hidden all alone under thick vines on a wall outside [my uncle’s] house, with no momma in sight.”
She was scared and hungry, still with the bright blue eyes of a very young kitten. Mike immediately took her in and gave her food and her very first bath, after which the two spent the night cuddled up together. He named her Gracie and declared himself a “cat daddy.”
Mike is fond of island life on St. John and takes full advantage of the climate and environment. He describes himself as being a very active person who is constantly outside, exploring the area, and hiking. This posed a problem for the new cat daddy, who didn’t want to leave weeks-old Gracie all alone.
“I like being outside. And living on the island, I live in a trailer, so it’s very small. I feel bad keeping her inside.”
Once Gracie had visited the vet and settled into living with Mike, she bounced back with her kitten energy and decided to go exploring with him. At first the two would take a walk down by the beach where she would follow after him. Then she began trotting along the shore and even getting her paws wet.
It wasn’t long before she started swimming in the ocean alongside her cat daddy.
In a video he posted on Instagram that has since been shared thousands of times on Facebook and The Dodo, Gracie is dutifully swimming after her owner. Wherever Mike goes, Gracie goes too, even if that means venturing into water, something that is commonly hated by most cats. After her swimming practice, he rinses her off with warm water and gives her a good rub down with a towel before she dries off in the sun and gets a few treats her way too.
Slowly but surely, Mike is taking Gracie out for other adventures, too.
As someone who loves to hit the trail, Mike took her out for a little evening walk and climb, where she latched herself on his neck “like velcro.”
Now Gracie has her own Instagram account where you can see her in action as she grows in size as well as in adventurousness. After getting spayed, Mike decided it was time to let her explore more of the surrounding area, so he hooked her up to a harness and leash and went out along a trail.
“So I decided to take her for a little hike in the woods to get her used to her harness, leash, and cat carrying backpack I have and she loved it!! It was a verrrrrryyy long 1.6 miles, as she explored every single rock, stick, and leaf we passed.”
You can check out more of Gracie’s island adventures on her Instagram account, where she takes more leash walks with Mike…
…climbs trees…
…and of course goes for swims with her dad.
Check out the adorable video of the two of them below!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
