Animal lovers have been left in tears over an adopted cat being reunited with her favorite toy from her shelter days.
Boots was adopted by Laura and settled in to her home in New York, but still loved a red pompom that she played with in the shelter. The three-legged ginger kitten would chase, bat and carry it around in her mouth.
Disaster struck when the pompom went missing after bringing the animal home—but, a month later, her owners found it and captured the moment it was returned to Boots.
In an adorable video posted to Laura's TikTok account @bellaurmy in January, the kitten is seen lounging on the floor, looking the picture of a pampered pet. As she's presented with the pompom, Boots leaps into action and begins chasing it and picking it up in her mouth, before disappearing under a Christmas tree to play with it under the lights.
"We found her favorite toy (literally just a red pom pom from when she was in the shelter) that's been missing for a month and she's so happy," Laura captioned the clip.
Newsweek has contacted @bellaurmy on TikTok for comment.
The clip has gained over 2.2 million views on the social media platform, with users hugely moved. One said: "It was probably her comfort," while a second posted crying emojis and wrote: "She recognized it immediately."
Another said: "She instantly remembered!!! yall better go out and get 49 more red pompoms that match!"
One user shared a similar experience with their own pet. "My cat was also obsessed with a pompom he had in the shelter but it went missing and we do believe he ate it," they posted.
Laura later shared an update where she explained Boots "has other pompoms but isn't interested in them, it's something about this one."
"It makes me want to cry [because] it was the only toy next to her at the shelter, it must've been her favorite then too," she added.
Laura also shared several photos of Boots, including one of her in the shelter with her favorite red pompom before she was adopted.
Boots is one of millions of cats to end up in shelters each year. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), an estimated 6.3 million animals enter shelters across the U.S. annually, including 3.2 million cats.
But, thanks to people like Laura, around 4.1 million animals, including 2.1 million cats, are adopted each year into forever homes.
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.
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