A golden retriever named Tristan has melted hearts on social media after a video of him saving a small kitten he found in the yard went viral.
The heartwarming clip, shared on TikTok in July by his owner under the username @alywiththedogs, shows the excited pup gently grooming the tiny kitten as his owner takes him in for a bath and to get some warmth.
“Why’s Tristan so excited? He found a baby!” layover text shared with the clip explains. “He heard him yesterday and has been trying to tell me ever since. We finally spotted the little guy tucked into the grass by our shed.
“None of the other dogs care but Tristan is desperate to help. So gentle. I’d hoped mom would come get him, but after 12 hours, no sign of her and it had started to rain. Time to go inside and warm up. Dried off and cleaned. He’ll have some milk replacement formula after he’s warmed and rested. Looks like we’ve been chosen by the cat distribution system.”
“Tristan was so mad at me for not listening!” says a caption shared with the viral video.
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The cat distribution system refers to the popular tongue-in-cheek concept that the universe chooses a cat for you when you are ready, in this case using Tristan as a conduit to getting that cat.
While they’re usually portrayed as mortal enemies, the truth is that cats and dogs cannot only live together peacefully, they can even become best of friends.
A 2020 study, carried out by Italian scientists and published in the journal PLOS ONE, proved that the two can easily cohabit without much conflict.
Evidence presented in the study shows that 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 the cats. Cats were also found to be 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 336,500 views and 74,800 likes on the platform.
One user, Julie Ashley Plockot, commented: “Tristan was chosen and he understood the assignment.”
Demontoaster said: “The Itty bitty tiny claws, What an amazing dog too my goodness.”
NA0MI7O2 added: “Tristan became a mommy today.”
Newsweek reached out to alywiththedogs for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the case.
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