A Siberian cat named Maverick and his new canine best friend have melted hearts on the internet with their sweet yet unlikely friendship, caught in a video that has quickly gone viral on social media.
In the heartwarming clip shared on TikTok on Saturday, under the username @maverickthesiberian, the poster explains: “My dad dropped off his puppy and was worried they wouldn’t get along.”
However, despite the poster’s fears, her cat did not hate the pup, quite the opposite, in fact. The two can be seen gently playing together, chasing each other and cuddling like they’d known each other since forever.
“Their literal first day together, my heart is exploding,” says a caption shared along with the viral clip.
Stock image of a cat playing with a dog. A woman thought her cat would hate her dad’s puppy when she had to pet sit for him—but the cat had different plans.
Getty Images
While popular culture has always painted them as mortal enemies, dogs and cats not only can live peacefully with each other, they can become best friends too.
A 2020 study carried out by Italian scientists, published in the journal PLOS ONE, questioned over 1,270 pet owners who own both a cat and a dog and found that the two can easily cohabit without much conflict.
According to the study, over 64 percent of the cats and dogs living together also played together; 58 percent chased each other; and 41 percent fought. Almost two-thirds of the pets sometimes playfully “ambushed” the other.
Moreover, cats are more likely to ignore dogs than vice versa, with 42 percent of cats ignoring canines, and 28 percent of dogs shunning cats. Cats were also more likely to attack dogs than vice versa.
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 963,300 views and 164,500 likes on the platform.
One user, Max 4 masc, commented: “I love how their play style isn’t just dog like or cat like. they’ve fully met in the middle.”
Skimslim said: “That cat is sooo friendly and social!! Very rare for cats to behave that way.”
Goosiewkup wrote: “No but they’re literally best friends, you can’t separate them now!”
Brandi Laverne added: “Sooo all cat people just keep boxes of all sizes and slowly rotate them out as it becomes too many… Glad its not just me.”
Newsweek reached out to maverickthesiberian for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the case.
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.
