Clip of Cat Curled Up in Pile of Golden Retriever Snuggle Catches Hearts.
A video of a cat snuggling up to her three canine friends is melting hearts online.
the viral clip, shared on TikTok by user @cutepetsassion, has racked up 3.5 million views in three days. It showed a cat snuggling between two Golden Retrievers who were lounging side by side on the ground. Before the cat could get too comfortable, a third Golden Retriever, apparently anxious to miss out on the fun, dove into the snuggle pile.
The cat mewed in mild protest as the third dog pushed through, but once it had settled in, the four animals lay in a row of stuffed animals.
“Gold nest and silver nest, not as good as dog nest,” her owner wrote in the caption.
Viewers were mesmerized by the bond between animals of two species not normally expected to get along.
“That dog was PISSED that the cat didn’t choose to sleep with him,” said one user. “But he fixed it.”
“The cat is one of the pack,” another person said.
“I could watch this for 50 hours, they are so cute!” exclaimed a third spectator. “How did you get them to love the cat?”
The pet’s owner replied: “Live together and little by little [they] will get into it.”
According to an analysis published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2020, living together can help dogs and cats bond. “As dogs/cats and humans spend time together in a home, they may learn unique pair/group communications and likely form bonds with specific individuals,” the study said.
Whether a dog and cat are able to live together in harmony largely depends on the specific animals and their temperaments, according to the Best Friends Animal Society. The animal welfare group explained three possible methods to introduce the two animals to each other.
One is slow and steady desensitization, which involves gradually increasing exposure between animals and using a baby gate so the dog and cat can only see each other at certain times. This is a good option if the dog is too obsessed with the cat and the owner isn’t sure they can safely share the space.
A second option is a face-to-face presentation. In this scenario, it is recommended that one person observes the dog’s body language and another person observes the cat’s. The dog must also be on a loose leash. If the dog is calm and can follow commands such as sit and lying down in the cat’s presence, the owner should praise and reward the dog.
Third, if the face-to-face introduction didn’t work, the owner can try more structured training to desensitize the dog to the cat.