When they were only a few days old, Charlie and his three siblings were discovered abandoned in a locked box at a campsite. The newborn kittens had no means to escape on one of the hottest days of the summer. Fortunately, someone found them before it was too late and took them to a nearby foster home when she realized there was no sign of their mother.

Even though the kittens had a difficult start to life and had to be bottle-fed continuously, they gradually grew and regained vigor. They each went to their permanent family when they were old enough to be adopted, with the exception of Charlie.

When no one seemed interested in adopting Charlie, the woman fostering the kittens asked her daughter if she wanted to adopt him as her own. She immediately said yes, and the pair have been together ever since.

“He’s the most loving, trusting, affectionate cat I’ve ever been around,” Chandler Alteri, Charlie’s mom, told The Dodo. “The second I get home from work, he runs to the door and stands on his back legs for me to pick him up and hug him. He LOVES to be held and snuggled. He’s excellent with children, dogs, strangers and, most of all, other kittens and cats.”

Soon, Alteri decided to try fostering, just like her mom, as it was something she’d always wanted to do. She contacted the ASPCA and brought home her first two foster kittens, Bitsy and Jitterbug. At first, she kept the kittens in the bathroom, as she wasn’t sure how Charlie would react to sharing his home with them. As it turned out, though, she had absolutely nothing to worry about.

“He was dying to get inside and see them,” Alteri said. “When I finally let him into the bathroom, he immediately started bathing the kittens. I watched for weeks as he cared for them and helped bring them out of their shell. I had never seen anything like it. They were shy at first, but because they loved Charlie and Charlie loved me, they began trusting me.”

As Bitsy and Jitterbug prepared to find their everlasting homes with Charlie’s assistance and direction, Alteri understood that she and Charlie had discovered their vocation. Charlie has loved and cared for each and every cat they have fostered—about 25 in total—just as they were his own children.

Charlie enjoys bathing the kittens and snuggling with them, according to Alteri. He permits them to pose as nurses even! He enjoys playing hide-and-seek with them as well. When he hears people approaching, he will hide someplace in the flat, meow, and then spring out of hiding to leap over them. That is hilarious!

Many people may be surprised by Charlie’s behavior because he’s a male cat, but every time he sees a new little foster kitten in need of love and attention, his parental instincts kick in, and he becomes the best adoptive dad anyone has ever seen.

Having Charlie around to help them learn and grow is a great asset to the foster kittens — and definitely helps make them more adoptable

Adi Hovav, senior behavior counselor at the ASPCA Adoption Center, told The Dodo, “The foster kittens benefit from a calm, friendly cat that gives the type of social support and connection that people can’t offer, especially while humans are still very terrifying.” “Charlie’s relationship with the kittens builds a bridge between the two species. Although kittens can be successfully socialized without a helper cat’s assistance, having Charlie around surely helps.

Charlie had a difficult childhood, which may explain why he is so interested in assisting and caring for the foster kittens. His life was spared by foster care, and today he spends his days paying it forward.