A woman in Ireland was walking home from the gym when she helped a cat that was being chased by a group of children in the streets, and now he's a constant presence in her life.

The poster, Jade, told Newsweek that later that day she was coming home from a talk about trauma and healing your inner child when she found the cat sitting in her driveway, as if he was waiting for her to come home.

"I was shocked and had to check the video I had taken of him earlier to see if it was the same cat and it was. I gave him salmon and water and a few pets and put him back outside, assuming it's someone's cat," she said.

A June video shared on TikTok under the username missjadem744 shows the tabby sitting outside the woman's door, meowing at her as she goes in. The following shot shows the cat inside her home, chilling in the room with her.

"He just kept coming back and found a way onto the roof to get to my bedroom window. So now he has a shortcut to me instead of meowing at the front door," Jade said.

Jade brought the cat to the vet to check if it was expecting kittens, but the vet said he was a boy. Also, it's possible that he already has a family.

"We were going to give him to my granny, but the vet said he is neutered and well fed, so he may live close to me and just might wander a lot," she said. "He disappears every few days and comes back smelling like salmon, so he may have a few houses he visits.

"I don't want to re-home someone's cat, and I wish I could keep him as an indoor cat, but I live in a shared house and it's not an option, unfortunately. He comes to my window on the roof when he wants in and he can have a cuddle, but I feed him outside."

Jade said the cat seems happy enough to come and go, knowing that he will always be fed. The universe's cat distribution system may have chosen her for exactly this reason.

"I think I'll put up posters to see if his owners get in touch, as I think my granny would love him as a pet and I could visit him anytime. I'll post updates on this on my page when I figure out what to do.

"I don't want to re-home him if he actually belongs to someone, like the vet thinks is very possible as he was a good weight when she weighed him."

The website Cats Protection says sometimes it can be tricky to tell whether a cat is a stray, owned or feral, but there are some cues you can look out for.

Their appearance is key. Stray cats usually look skinny or underweight, while cats that look well groomed and healthy likely have an owner and may be temporarily lost.

The video quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 591,700 views and 137,500 likes.

One user, Santiago García, commented: "For some reason Cat Distribution system gave me my neighbor's cat, he stays in their house overnight but 80% of the day he's with me. He's orange and I love him, but I'm just his chill uncle I think."

Amberpetty said: "I swear cats just wake up one day and say, 'I'm not for these streets no more. Today's my day to find a sucker."

MissN wrote: "I know I should be happy for you but tbh I'm just jealous. I've waited so [patiently] for the cat distribution system to bless me with a cat and it's not happened."

TheHumanCrime said: "Humans: cat distribution system! Cats: it's my turn to domesticate a human!"

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.