A pet owner bonded with a shelter feline while visiting a local cat café, so she adopted him. Her animals' reaction when she brought him home has delighted social-media users.
In a viral TikTok video shared on Sunday under the username @lauragrayc, the poster, 29-year-old Laura Gray, says that, while visiting a café that helps rehome animals from a local shelter, she met the tabby, now known as Kiwi, and they immediately bonded.
Having already adopted a cat two years earlier, Gray wasn't planning on getting another feline, but once she got home, she couldn't stop thinking about little Kiwi. So she prepped her home and then went back for him.
Gray told Newsweek: "I was worried about introducing a cat to my other cat since I had never done so. I also didn't grow up with cats, so I was worried and did a lot of research."
As she drove him home, Kiwi kept purring and making biscuits all the way, as if he knew he had finally found his family. He immediately loved his home. Then he met his new siblings, and their reaction surprised everyone, even their owner.
"My other cat and dog immediately accepted the new cat as their family. They are getting along so well!" Gray said.
While she had initially planned to keep the cats separated for a while, seeing how comfortable they were playing together, she let them hang out with each other after a couple of days; ever since then, they have been inseparable.
"The pets now even have a big, walkout screened patio so they can safely be outside," the poster added.
Adopting an pet can make a real impact for shelters across the country. It is estimated that there are between 60 and 100 million stray and feral cats in the United States alone.
Shelters are constantly overwhelmed with new pets, and those who aren't lucky enough to find a house after a certain period of time may end up being euthanized for lack of space.
"Cat cafés are such an amazing business when done well because they're able to get cats so much visibility for adoption, and also socialize them. I'm so grateful for every organization that helps out animals!" the poster said.
Bringing a new cat home always takes lots of preparation and patience, and while Gray got lucky with her pets' prompt acceptance of the new family member, other animals may require more time to get used to their new sibling.
According to VCA Animal Hospitals, before taking the new feline home, you should set up a room specifically for them, a safe place that your other pets can't access. After letting the cat settle in for a couple of days, you can start location swapping, to get both felines to familiarize with each other's smell.
Then it is time for face-to-face meetings, which should be done in neutral areas of the house, even better if separated by baby gates. Once they are comfortable with each other's presence, you can allow them to play under your supervision.
After several successful interactions, you can gradually allow them to play unsupervised.
The video quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 2.3 million views and 490,000 likes on the platform.
One user, Camivette, posted: "Making biscuits in the car? Oh he was happy happy."
Chris Ellinger wrote: "Like a missing piece of a puzzle …"
Allie added: "They knew each other in another life."
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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