Cat Owner on Walk Looks Back at Her House—What She Sees Makes Her Rush Home

A pet owner has shared how her daredevil cat left her rushing home from a walk recently when she spotted him balancing on their balcony.

Amy Kwiatkowski is from Fort Worth, Texas, and shared the moment a casual stroll turned into a dash home when 9-year-old ginger cat Calvin strolled along the balcony railing.

"I panicked when I saw him," Kwiatkowski told Newsweek. "I was nervous he would get startled by the dog below. I knew he has good balance and would most likely be fine, but I still was nervous."

Kwiatkowski doesn't live alone and had popped out of the apartment with her dog so that he could use the bathroom. While just a few feet away from the second-floor apartment, she was shocked to look up and see Calvin balancing on the balcony railing.

Calvin the cat
Pictures from the video of the moment Calvin's owner saw him balancing on the balcony. She told Newsweek: "I panicked when I saw him." @amykaayy/TikTok

When she saw Calvin's impromptu balcony adventure, Kwiatkowski rushed back—only to find him perfectly happy and safe, with all four paws on the ground.

After she spotted the cat, Kwiatkowski started filming, originally intending to share with a friend. As she reached the cat back in the apartment, her voice from behind the camera said: "Do you have a death wish?" She then added: "No, you just want attention."

"He is always amusing but does not usually climb like that," Kwiatkowski said. "I initially just took the video to send to a friend," she added. "Then, because he was obviously just fine, I thought it was funny."

The owner shared the video, which contains swearwords, on TikTok where it has since been viewed more than 628,000 times and prompted a mixed response from viewers.

While most people found the ginger cat's balancing skills entertaining, some were unkind.

"The reaction has been mostly kind, but there have been some incredibly hateful people out there," Kwiatkowski said. "I've mostly deleted those comments by now, but some people have been quite cruel."

One commenter posted: "I audibly gasped! How are you so calm???"

Another viewer wrote: "He lost his patio privileges."

Calvin isn't the only cat to terrify his owner with unusual antics. There was the feline that dangerously balanced on the edge of an elevated handrail.

Or Ezra, the cat who took a dramatic fall after climbing a ladder, proving that felines can be a little bit free with their nine lives.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Alice Gibbs is a Newsweek Senior Internet Trends & Culture Reporter based in the U.K. For the last two years ... Read more

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