A TikTok video has captured the enduring but heartbreaking bond between a black cat and its “soulmate” sibling, lost too soon.
In the video, a black cat is seen cuddling its orange bonded companion, before cutting to reveal the black cat snuggling the same way but with an orange stuffed toy instead. The clip has now gone viral, having received 565,000 likes at the time of writing.
“Soul-mated so hard that you still nap together every day,” the owner captioned the video. “Every day for years, I think they will share their afternoon naps together forever.”
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In the comments, their owner shared the tragic backstory: “We adopted them as a bonded pair, but our orange guy had an incurable illness and passed at six months,” they wrote.
The black cat’s grief and tribute to its soulmate resonated with other TikTok users, many of whom shared similar experiences of bonds and grief with pets.
One commenter recounted a memory of their own bonded cat pair: “Had a void [black] and an orange bonded pair once,” they wrote. “Void had to get treated at the vet for a wound from his stray days before we took them in, and orange screamed at the top of his lungs until his brother came back. Two days. Screamed himself hoarse and still tried calling for his brother. We knew we could never separate them after that, so all vet and other visits were done together.”
The sorrow of losing a beloved animal companion, regardless of species, was a recurring theme.
“This, but my dog and cat were best friends, and when my cat died, my dog saw a black cat and ran up to it thinking it was my cat…just seemed so sad when it ran away,” a commenter shared.
“I had two cats that were soul mates,” another wrote. “One passed (five years ago) and the other one still goes to look for them. They had specific meows for each other.”
The emotional impact of the video was clear, as one user shared: “My wife and I went from, ‘They look just like our two!’ to both violently sobbing in 10 seconds.”
What Does ‘Bonded’ Mean for Cats?
The deep connection observed in the video speaks to the concept of “bonded pairs” in cats, a phenomenon recognized mostly by animal shelters.
According to a blog by the Veterinary Centers of America (VCA), a bonded pair is two cats that have a “special relationship,” where an adoption center wants to re-home them together.
These pairs reflect the social nature of felines, which thrive on stability and security. While bonded pairs are often siblings, cats that have spent a lot of time together may also develop a close bond, the VCA shared.
Observant shelter staff play a crucial role in identifying these special relationships.
“Once they notice a special bond, caretakers work to keep the feline friends together,” the VCA wrote. “Cats in a bonded pair provide each other with comfort and companionship and are more likely to thrive if they can remain together in their new home.”
Newsweek reached out to @kittys_tik_and_tok for comment via TikTok.