Having a best friend is likely one of the most wonderful things in life. It is someone who understands you fully and accepts you unconditionally, forming a bond that cannot be easily broken.
One of the greatest parts about this is that being best friends is not limited to gender, race, age, or even species. For example, one woman shared how her dog and cat, despite being vastly different, became inseparable from the moment they met. Now, they can’t even go to sleep before going through their sweetest nightly routine. Scroll down to read the full story!
More info: TikTok
Everyone needs a close friend, and seeing that friendship unfold and flourish is one of the most beautiful sights
A woman adopted a dog named Tiger right after finishing high school, and 6 years later, she also got a cat named Akaiba
The very roots of this story go way back to 2010, when, right after her senior year of high school, Jean Munn, better known on TikTok as jtwohawks, adopted a 4-and-a-half-month-old pit mix pup named Tiger.
Tiger has always been loved and lived the kind of life some dogs could only dream of. However, little did she know that, around the 6th year of her life, when Jean decided to get a cat named Akaiba, everything would only get better.
The animals became inseparable almost from the moment they met, spending time together and taking care of each other
“Pretty much from the get-go, they were inseparable,” said jtwohawks in her reply video following her viral TikTok from a few days prior, which blew up to have over 1.1 million views and more than 216,000 likes in just a couple of weeks.
In the video, Akaiba and Tiger’s bond is depicted at its best. The dog comes over, requesting a ‘bath’ from the cat, and it is a favor that her friend never rejects. In fact, they’ve been in this routine for more or less the whole 8 years of their friendship.
“Tiger groomed Akaiba a lot as a kitten, and as soon as Akaiba grew up a little bit, she started returning the favor,” Jean shared in her interview with The Dodo, talking about how happy she is to see how much love her pets have for each other.
Their friendship became the sensation of the internet when the woman posted a video of Akaiba giving Tiger ‘a bath’, which is their nightly bedtime ritual
The two buddies share their space with another cat named Cali. “She’s got classic middle child syndrome,” wrote jtwohawks, replying to a commenter who pointed out that she was just sitting in the shadows behind Tiger and Akaiba during the video of their bedtime ritual.
While Tiger’s bond with Cali may not be as strong as with Akaiba, in her update video, the woman reassured us that they’re getting along great, too, sharing a couple of pics as proof.
Check out the full TikTok video:
@jtwohawks They are the sweetest pair. #pitbullsoftiktok #pitmix #catsanddogs ♬ Stuff We Did (from ‘Up’) – Piano Version – your movie soundtrack
Seeing things like these is honestly beautiful. However, this story is not the only one of its kind, as it is not unusual to see a picture or a video online with dogs and cats getting along well. So then, where does the idea that these animals hate each other come from?
Well, according to several sources online, this belief is mostly just a myth. As Melissa Gunter wrote on Catster, a lot of this is thanks to the pop culture and stereotypes that we ourselves put into play.
After all, when looking through human eyes, cats and dogs are the 2 most popular animals in the world. Since most of us like them so much and love to see them almost everywhere, it’s only natural that with the big differences they exhibit, they eventually get depicted as enemies.
But there’s at least a grain of truth in every tale. Cats and dogs are indeed very different beings. In the beginning, our canine friends were, first and foremost, our protectors and hunting partners. Many dog breeds were made to catch animals smaller than them, and cats, more often than not, fall into that description.
To this day, some dogs maintain that prey drive and instinctively feel like chasing that which runs, but it doesn’t mean that they aim to be lethal or that they can’t be trained to act otherwise.
At the same time, cats are often seen as the polar opposite of dogs. They’re quite aloof but can also be pretty moody, which sometimes makes them a bit unpredictable. When spotting a dog, depending on their familiarity and experiences with the animal, they may want to be friendly, run, or even start a fight.
Cats and dogs are often depicted as enemies thanks to our pop culture, but in reality, there is nothing that could actually stop them from becoming best friends
Of course, having these four-pawed buddies get along is very much possible. Of course, it may not always happen as effortlessly as it did with Tiger and Akaiba, but for that occasion, we’ve got a few tips that Kirstin Fawcett of Mental Floss shared that can help you in situations like these:
- Think about your pets’ personalities rather than their breeds.
- Train your dog to control impulses and give it enough exercise.
- Give the cat some personal territory first.
- Keep their toys and food separated.
- Let them smell each other’s things before the meeting.
- Plan their face-to-face introduction carefully and make it slow.
- Raise them together, if possible.
All in all, despite the myth created by our pop culture, cats and dogs can get along perfectly fine. It’s true that not every encounter will follow the example of Akaiba and Tiger, but at the very least, these two buddies are proof that this kind of friendship is absolutely possible and is absolutely adorable when it occurs.
What did you think about this story? Do you know any other cats and dogs that get along this perfectly? Share it all in the comments below!
The commenters had their hearts melted by the wholesomeness of Akaiba and Tiger’s story
