Time is changing, it is getting faster and true great friendships are slowly disappearing from our lives. It is all the more touching to see that the animal world is not affected by our problems.
“Those two are like a dog and a cat,” we can often hear commenting on the animosity between two people. But a short video posted on TikTok by the user @colbyroberts143 can convince everyone of the exact opposite. These two animals clearly share a very strong bond that has not been broken even by the age of one of them. If we as humans treated each other like this, we could congratulate ourselves.
Age is relentless
According to their breeder, the female Daisy and the male Cal were longtime friends when they were both still in good condition. But older Daisy started showing signs of age earlier than her furry feline friend.
We might think that Cal would find other playmates that fit his age and activity level. But as this video shows (and many more similar ones can be found on social networks), not only people, but also animals can adapt to changed conditions. In short, when they like someone, they are willing to start living their – perhaps slightly limited – life.
An unexpected dose of animal empathy
What can be a greater proof of friendship and especially the knowledge that the other needs special treatment, than Cal’s behavior towards Daisy. The female can’t see or hear, but that can’t stop the cat from deciding to show her his affection and assure her that he’s here with her and for her.
But how to do it so that his sudden presence does not startle her? Cal made it up: so as not to surprise her, he first signaled that he was coming. He used the carpet that Daisy was sitting on. Once he could be sure that his canine girlfriend knew about him, nothing could stop him from taking care of her as only cats could.
Patience and understanding
While some people unfortunately do not possess such a dose of empathy, Cal understood very well that Daisy’s age and illness required a special approach, patience and understanding. He realized that he could not see or hear him, that he could only respond to physical stimuli, such as the initial movement of the carpet.
Can anyone still think that animals are actually stupid? After all, such behavior requires a large amount of intelligence, including social intelligence, which many people lack.
Strange friends
So how is it really? Can dogs and cats be friends? Many families where these two animal species live together can tell long stories about such friendships. Even not only about them, but also about the coexistence of cats and domestic rodents, which should serve as prey for them in nature.
It is a definite thought process, when the animal realizes that although it catches mice outside, the hamster in the terrarium is a friend (and if not exactly a friend of the cat, then a friend of its human), and as such it must be respected.
To life and to death…
Between cats and dogs, animals that are after all more intelligent than small rodents, real friendships can develop. It has already happened more than once that the departure of one of them marked the “surviving” animal so much that it followed the friend into animal eternity in a short time.
Friendship between animals thus teaches us, humans, empathy, patience and unconditional love. The story of a blind and deaf dog and his feline guide is an inspiration for all of us to learn to overcome prejudices and find beauty in differences.
Sources: www.newsweek.com, www.ceskatelevize.cz, www.handipet.org
