Memphis, Tennessee - A lone, stray cat appeared at a woman's front door, where three other kitties had already made themselves at home. As a viral clip shows, the poor stray looked tired and sick, and the story behind it is completely moving.

Jaclyn Andersen from Memphis, Tennessee, told The Dodo why the tomcat surprised her.

"[He] showed up in the middle of the night," the animal lover recounted.

"The first thing I noticed was those ginormous tomcat cheeks. They were pretty hard to miss," she added.

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The reason for the regular visits: Andersen set out cat food for the neighborhood strays every evening.

But Charles, as she eventually named the stray, behaved very differently from his fellow cats.

"I noticed it seemed like he was sleeping on the doormat for an entire hour… it was just very odd behavior because most of the ferals are usually very skittish," she said.

A few days later, Charles began sending fairly obvious signals.

"When he saw me through the window, he didn't leave right away," Andersen told the outlet.

"He kind of just lingered and started slow blinking at me through the window. It looked like he was trying to tell me something."

It quickly became clear to Andersen that Charles wanted more than just food.

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After a few days, she finally let the feline into her apartment. Soon after, several vet appointments followed.

Charles was neutered, and his health issues were treated. He's now a permanent member of the family – Andersen's fourth cat.

She's now certain: "I think he's just so ready to retire and saw a nice senior living center in my household with all my cats that were safe."