Mourning cat learns to love again with new puppy sibling
Fred the cat tragically struggled to adjust after the cancer death of the family dog... until one special puppy came along to help heal his broken heart!
Fred, AKA fredthefriendlyfeline, was raised by a golden retriever named Arthur.
The two animals were best friends, but then the dog sadly passed away from cancer last August.
The loss "was devastating for all of us," pet owner Dayshun Felling told Newsweek.
"Fred was with Arthur when he died as I wanted to give him the opportunity to understand, but he was still lost after."
The family tried to help the cat by getting a new friend for him, another golden named Sunny – but it took some time for Fred to warm up to the puppy's high energy!
Sunny the dog helps heartbroken cat Fred learn to love again
Now that Sunny has grown up a little bit and gotten a more relaxed attitude, the animals' friendship is fully "blooming."
"I cried so much making this reel," one viral Instagram video is captioned.
"I'm so grateful for Sunny and the way she healed Fred's heart after he lost Arthur... it's so wonderful to see Fred love again."
Felling told Newsweek, "I was confident that [Fred] would warm up to a new Golden."
The pet owner added, "Sunny looks exactly like Arthur now!"
"You could tell in the beginning the kitty was like, 'I don't know if I'm ready,' and the puppy said, 'I'll be here for when you are,'" one video commenter wrote.
Cover photo: Collage: Screenshots/Instagram/@fredthefriendlyfeline