Grandma Makes Photobook for Special-Needs Kitten She Babysat

A kitten photoshoot sounds cute, but this grandma took pet-sitting to a whole new level.

When Izzie Grass left her kitten Ricky with her parents for two weeks, she expected he'd be fed and safe. What she didn't expect was a complete children's book titled "Ricky Goes to Gramma's and Grampa's," documenting every moment of his visit with photos and captions.

The album shows Ricky "helping Gramma do the dishes" and sitting at the table where "Cousin Jasper and Charlie ate most of" the pancakes Gramma made for him. When Grass shared the photobook on TikTok in 2020, it immediately went viral and has resurfaced multiple times since.

"I would die for Ricky, Gramma, and Grampa," one commenter wrote. Another joked, "My parents didn't even put this much effort into making scrapbooks for ME."

Grass told Newsweek her mom simply said making sentimental gifts is "what she does." But the story behind the photobook makes it even more meaningful.

Ricky was brought to the veterinary clinic where Grass worked at just nine weeks old to be euthanized. The people who found him reported he had broken legs and couldn't keep food down.

When Grass came back from lunch early, she found Ricky in a kennel. He didn't have broken legs, but he did have birth defects and health problems that required specialized care.

Grass took him home but needed time to prepare for his special needs. Her mom volunteered to watch him for a couple of weeks, and that's when she created the book.

Four years later, Ricky is thriving. "His esophagus works significantly better, he has learned how to walk, climb and run, and he continues to help me raise other foster kittens," Grass told Newsweek.

Sunny's Take

Some people questioned whether the photos were AI-generated because of Ricky's unusual-looking paws in the pictures. But those paws are real—shaped like candy canes due to a condition called radial hypoplasia from inbreeding.

"That's not AI. That's inbreeding," Grass explained in a follow-up video. "Spay and neuter your cats."

The photobook came out well before AI technology became widely available anyway. It's just one grandma's love for a special kitten who needed a little extra care.

Ricky now lives the life he deserved from the start, helping Grass foster other kittens who need temporary homes.

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