April 25, 2025

The Cat in the Tin Foil Hat

And the human who found her.

I didn’t expect to find Minky. I just saw her photo, this perfect little cat wearing a tin foil hat, floating around the internet one day and saved it to my phone. As one does. Months (maybe years?) later, I dropped Minky’s photo on a random tweet about tin foil and wifi and boom, there she was, going viral all over again. Only this time… it summoned her human. That’s how I met Elena, Minky’s mom. And now here we are — talking about cats, theories of the universe, and how a little flat-headed feline found her way from a tough start to a home full of love, music, and burritos.

Tell us about you and Minky

I'm Elena, I’m a psychological therapist, and my partner (Dylan, a musician) and I live in Norwich, England, with Turtle, Minky (full name Malenkiy), and their sister Vegetable Gyoza (who doesn’t have Twitter).

Minky is an incredibly special cat. Everyone who meets her simply ADORES her. We rescued her from a local sanctuary. She had a pretty traumatic story. She was living with her first family for the first 8 years of her life. They then got pregnant and sold Minky on Gumtree to some local students. The students then kept her for a few months, but then dumped her back at the original owners. They put her in a cat crate and left her outside the house. We have no idea how long for, but it may have been over 12 hours. She was so horribly stressed that she had chewed all of the fur off her stomach and backside. She now cries nonstop when we put her in a crate to take her to the vets. But that’s how we ended up adopting her. We’ve had her over 2 years now!!

She is the most loving cat I have ever met. She’s always wanting to sit on someone’s lap, she gives you kisses if you bring your cheek to her, and she just gazes into your eyes with so much love. She’s also special as she has bandy front arms that go out quite a bit at the elbow. The vets think that she probably had it since birth. It doesn’t affect her much, but hinders her jumping and landing ability. But yeah, essentially, she is just the most loving, cuddly, and happy cat now, who absolutely everyone who meets her loves.

Let's talk about the tin foil hat

The tinfoil hat !! Well, we have always had a joke about how flat her head is and how she often gazes around the room in absolute bewilderment, as if she is some alien simply pretending to be a cat. So we were eating burritos and watching something stupid on the TV, and when you see a cat’s head and are holding something that could make a hat in some way… I mean it’s fate. She didn’t even care, just sat there with it on.

I don’t think Minky has the capacity to comprehend anything, really, but especially not the way the world works. Her mind is occupied with scanning the room for a lap to sit on, or going outside to sit in the sunshine and just look around. Maybe that’s enough of a theory.

” To her, the world has become peace, quiet and love. So hopefully that’s how she thinks the world works, despite her traumatic past.

About Turtle

Turtle is also an amazing cat. We rescued her about 3 years ago. She was given up as she has a skin condition and food sensitivities that the previous owner couldn’t manage. Turtle is essentially a sentient, food-obsessed, cuddly toy. You can pick her up, shove your face in her tummy, or simply just look at her, and immediately she’ll start purring. She’s peaceful. She and Minky get on decently, like sisters who love each other but don’t want to admit it.

We thank Elena for sharing the story with us! You can follow Minky and Turtle on Twitter.

Are you a creator with a story like this? We’d love to feature you.

More stories