Washington DC - When Cedar the cat spent his first night in a real home, he crawled behind the toilet and pressed himself against a cold pipe. The poor little guy even tried to climb up the wall!

The tragic scene was recorded by Arizona Goodtree, an experienced foster mother of pets.

The animal rescuer has been looking after cats in need since 2019, but Cedar's story made even her cringe.

The shy cat comes from a cat colony of around 80 animals in a trailer park in Virginia.

When the people there were evicted, the cats were left behind to fend for themselves.

"When Cedar first arrived, he immediately went into hiding. His first hiding spot was behind my toilet, which honestly broke my heart," Arizona told Newsweek.

"I couldn’t help but think about his quality of life before this and how poor it must have been that a cold metal toilet pipe would feel like a safe place to rest," she added.

"Seeing him hide was heartbreaking, but it’s also a completely normal reaction for a foster cat. Cedar has never lived inside a home before. He has spent his entire short life fighting for scraps."

On her Instagram page, the cat mom shared the emotional clips – and thousands of users sympathized. But then came the moment that changed everything.

With the help of her other cat, Arizona was able to lure Cedar out of his hiding place in the bathroom. The smell of his fellow kitty obviously seemed familiar. Cedar left his hiding place and even tried his food.

Then he even let himself be pet for the first time!

On Instagram, Arizona was visibly pleased to have given the frightened foster cat renewed trust in humans. Cedar now looks much more confident.

"Proud doesn't even begin to cover it," reads the post's caption.