A TikTok Star Raised Nearly $200,000 for a Cat Sanctuary After Saving an Injured Cat

If you’ve spent any timeTikTok, you may have stumbled across an unexpectedly enchanting profile: SB Mowing, an account dedicated to cleaning up overgrown lawns. The concept doesn’t seem particularly exciting at first glance, but SB Mowing — based in Corpus Christi, Texas — has amassed 3.4 million followers for a reason.

Spencer, the person behind the account (who prefers not to use his last name), fixes up yards for free when lawns are left abandoned or residents aren’t able to take care of them — and the resulting videos of time-lapsed trims and pressure washes are bizarrely satisfying. 

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Saving SB (the cat)

In a recent excursion, Spencer stumbled upon more than just some overgrown grass: He found an injured cat in need of help. “When I was picking up some of the trash and some of the junk, I saw her just laying there,” he said in a video he posted of the rescue and lawn clean-up. “She was letting me pet her and everything and wasn’t moving. I think she has a wound under her leg.”

He found a number for a local service that claimed to help injured animals, but when he called, they said they couldn’t take cats. He tried his local Humane Society next, and they directed him to local animal rescues. Finally, he reached Edgar And Ivy’s Cat Sanctuary, and they told him they could help. At their instruction, Spencer gently put the cat in a box and drove the cat to the sanctuary. 

Anissa Beal, the director of Edgar and Ivy’s Cat Sanctuary, met Spencer and confirmed that the cat — who turned out to be a boy — was badly injured, probably from a fight with other strays. She took the cat to their medical center, where he was given antibiotics, de-worming medication, food, and a cozy bed to heal in. She also gave Spencer the chance to name the cat. “Let’s name him SB,” Spencer said. 

What’s next for SB and Edgar and Ivy

Once he’s up to it, like all cats who go through Edgar and Ivy’s Cat Sanctuary, SB will receive vaccinations, a microchip, and neuter surgery. Beal explained that Edgar and Ivy’s Cat Sanctuary takes cats off the euthanasia list from local shelters to save those who are at highest risk. “We are only limited by our finances and our supplies,” she told Spencer. “I don’t get paid — everything goes straight to the cats.” 

When he heard this, Spencer leapt into action and created a GoFundMe for the sanctuary. “They’re an amazing organization, and their goals and their mission line up very closely to mine, so I really want to help them out,” he said. 

His followers heard the call, and the GoFundMe raised more money than Spencer ever imagined — now, it has raised almost $192,000, and the number is still rising. He didn’t know it at the time, but his fundraising efforts saved the sanctuary — and therefore the lives of countless cats. “I was spending half of my income trying to sustain this,” Beal told KIII news. “I kept praying that I’d get some sort of a sign if I should continue, because I told myself if I couldn’t make it this year, I was going to end it. I was not going to continue this rescue.” 

To thank Spencer, Beal asked him to name a building that the sanctuary will use to rehabilitate cats. Spencer decided to name it the SB Mowing Community Wellness Center. “It was a miracle, and it makes me emotional to think that so many people could care about us and about this cat and what we're doing,” Beal told KIII. “I’m afraid I’m going to wake up and that it’s not true. This is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.”