In the video, shared on TikTok on Wednesday by the pets’ owner, under the username fatcat391, the two golden pets can be seen charging at each other—although clearly not trying to hurt the other—while opening Christmas presents.
They lunge and boop each other briefly before Zoey decided she had had enough of the dog and walked away, after sticking her claws into his paw. The viral clip, which has so far been reshared over 3,520 times on the platform, comes with a caption that says: “The Christmas fight,” followed by “too much catnip.
According to dog food brand Nylabone, the majority of cats can happily coexist with a dog if they are given time to comfortably get to know each other.
When a puppy and kitten are raised together, they generally will learn right away to tolerate each other, and some even grow to be real friends, playing and napping together. However, if one of the pets is already an established member of the household and a new pet is going to join the family, some precautions need to be taken.
When introducing a new pet, the Animal Humane Society suggests keeping them apart for the first three to four days, and initially feeding them on opposite sides of a closed door, to give them space but still teach them to associate the presence of the other pet with pleasant things, like food.
The Minnesota-based animal welfare organization suggests you can then begin their face-to-face meeting, holding the dog on a leash, rewarding their good behavior, and redirecting their attention when they start getting nervous, repeating these sessions daily.
Once they get along well, you can allow them to play together loose, although it is advised that you keep them in separate rooms when you’re not there to supervise them.
The video has gone viral, reaching animal lovers all over the platform, receiving over 1.9 million views and 262,700 likes.
One user, Shannon M, commented: “I love how as he towers, she just starts to melt into a ginger puddle. I love these two!” And Jenn Faucett said, “The attack boop was my favorite move!”
User Clarissa nurse wrote: “Oh no the dog finally chose violence lol. Can someone help Zoey? The dog heard all of Zoey’s comments lol.” And Sdplains said, “Sibling energy.”
Another user, Anna.of.the.Sea, pointed out: “I’m happy to see that you stopped the dog and cat. most people let the cat abuse the dog. that is so good. Ty!” And Cookies Bourdeau said: “Did someone get more presents?”
Tamzee said: “Wouldn’t be Christmas without at least one family fight.” And ninna.ba added: “hahahha they wanna fight but they don’t.”
Newsweek reached out to fatcat391 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.
