A woman is being hailed a hero after recently welcoming home a senior cat she spotted walking around the neighborhood looking very clearly out of place.

Alex told Newsweek she noticed the feline because, well, it is "hard to miss a large orange cat." Plus, she could tell he was not an outdoor cat. Her suspicion and confusion grew because she didn't know why the cat was suddenly outside.

"We fed him outside for a week, and another neighbor told us he had been left behind when the neighbors left," she said. "He wasn't thriving outside at all, like some cats can. So we brought him in."

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Alex then took the 12-year-old cat to the vet. The hope was that the cat had a microchip and was left by mistake. However, the person associated with the microchip said they were not interested in getting him back, which is when Alex stepped in to care for him permanently.

She shared the story in a recent Reddit post to the subreddit channel r/cats, which has over 17,000 upvotes. The caption reads: "Neighbors moved out and left their 12-year-old senior gentleman. Welcome to your new home Red!"

Red is adjusting to his forever home and staying in Alex's guest room while she works on getting her other cat and dog comfortable with the new pet. Also, she's waiting on a "clean bill of health" after the next vet appointment before introducing them.

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In any case, she's not too concerned about them getting along. "I think they'll be fine," she said. "They're both already showing some interest in the room he's in."

As of Thursday, the Reddit post has nearly 500 comments. Viewers were instantly taken aback by the neighbors' decision to give up on the senior cat.

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"I don't understand how people can abandon a cat of 12 years. I'm glad he has you to look out for him in his senior years!" wrote one Redditor.

Another said: "Thank you so much for taking care of this handsome fella. Hope everything turns out great for him."

A third person wrote: "On the upside, people who would do this don't deserve gorgeous kitties like this one...I think he's dodged a bullet, really."

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.