Rats are babysitting kittens at this Brooklyn cat café

As many pet owners in New York can tell you, it can be hard to find a reliable cat-sitter in the city. Turns out, the best option was right in front of this entire time.

The Brooklyn Cat Café in Brooklyn Heights has turned to some unusual caretakers for their new herd of orphaned cats: rats!

The unusual pairings reportedly began two years ago. At that time—in a story that’s equal parts The Fault in our Stars and Babe—a four-week-old kitten named Ebony at the cat café caught cat leukemia.

Since the disease is contagious, the kitty had to be kept in isolation from her fellow felines. As a substitute companion, the staff introduced Ebony to Ivory, a friendly rat who could not catch the disease. The two soon became life-long best friends.

OK, stop reading now for a nice story.

Good morning, Ivory & Mike! We are open until 7 pm today. #catcafebk #adoptdontshop #ivorytherat #kitten #strangerthingskittens #tuxedokitten #catlife #dailyfluff #kittensofinstagram #ratsofinstagram #brooklyn #nyc #bbawc

A post shared by Brooklyn Cat Cafe 🐱☕️ (@catcafebk) on Nov 4, 2016 at 8:28am PDT

You’re still here?  Oh, well. Ebony soon succumbed to her fatal illness and Ivory followed her to the grave months later. Though the unlikely pair of animal friends may be dead, the tradition of pairing rats with cats at the café remains alive. Currently, you can stop by and see two rats, Remy and Emile, keeping watch over the newborn kittens. So head over to see a cat babysat by a rat, stat!

[h/t Patch]