Mike Usher of St. John, US Virgin Islands, is the proud owner of Gracie, a gray tabby kitten. Mike’s cute video of his kitty following him out to sea and swimming with him in the water rapidly went viral, and the couple is now taking over the Internet.
Mike found Gracie when she was just five weeks old hiding in a small hole in the wall in town. According to Mike, when he was helping out around his uncle’s house, he heard little meows coming from inside the vine-covered wall. He came to check and discovered the tiny kitten. Mike felt that he needed a companion and the kitten had no family around. So, Mike decided to adopt her and named her Gracie.
“I needed a companion,’ Mike explained in a video. ‘And she lost her mom, she lost her family. It was almost meant to be.”
Mike enjoys being outside and is highly active, so his cat Gracie trained to be an outdoor cat with him. Although not all cats enjoy being in the water, it is evident that Gracie does. Mike discovered she could swim after taking her to the beach and having her run directly into the water to swim with him.
“I usually have a towel laid up when I bring her out in the water,” Mike explained. “She rushes to the towel.” I have bottled water that I let lie in the sun for a few minutes before giving her a wash.”
Gracie enjoys swimming in the water with her father, as well as climbing trees and running along the beach. Mike explained, “Whenever I have spare time, I bring her out to the beach and she runs along the beach with me.”
Gracie has changed Mike into becoming a ‘cat dad’, and now the couple is inseparable. ‘She always kind of wanted to be around me wherever I was, whatever I was doing, Mike said. Mike has even created an Instagram account, where he shares cute animal videos and photos of Gracie’s adventures on the island.
