A couple of cats called Jade and Kai have melted hearts all over the internet after a clip of them raising their kitten together went viral on social media last week.
In the video, shared on TikTok by the cats’ owner under the username Pawpypals, the tabby and the tuxedo cat can be seen curled up with each other caring for their orange kitten, who is lucky enough to have a loving mom and dad.
The unusual, heartwarming clip comes with a caption that says: “POV: your two cats had one kitten together and now they’re the perfect little family.”
According to animal charity Cat Protection, male cats aren’t really known for their skills as fathers, and it isn’t clear whether they have any fatherly instincts at all. They tend not to be involved in raising their offspring, especially in the wild.
While there are some very rare reported cases of domestic male cats showing paternal care toward their kittens, they generally don’t stick around after mating, leaving mom cat to do all the work for them.
Moreover, according to PetKeen, some male cats are known for killing kittens, even their own, although it isn’t very common.
“Not all male cats will kill kittens, though,” the website says. “This behavior is less common in neutered males since their sex hormones aren’t driving their behaviors to the extent they are prior to neutering. It’s also not as common in male cats that have been well-socialized to the presence of other cats.”
The video quickly went viral on TikTok, attracting animal lovers from across the platform. It has so far received over 754,200 views and 152,600 likes.
One user, Madison, commented: “Imagine the good karma that soul acquired to be experiencing life this time as that baby kitten.” And Megan Lee said: “I’d bet that lil baby kitty feels so loved. Look at mama and pops.” Itscaley_biiiich added: “Cat genes have always confused me. this is adorable tho.”
KBA Fan page joked: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tuxedo cat married to a tabby.” And Emdmaye said: “All of my cats literally hate each other.”
Newsweek reached out to Pawpypals for comment via Instagram. We couldn’t verify the details of the case.
