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By Melissa Fleur Afshar
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A 29-year-old cat owner was warned that her male cat might reject his feline sibling following her return from surgery—but instead, he responded with affection, the moment of which has melted the hearts of viewers on TikTok.
The male cat, named Ernie, was filmed gently licking his sister Gigi's fur as she rested and recovered, fresh from a veterinary procedure. Rather than acting territorial or standoffish, Ernie appeared calm and concerned against lighthearted music. The video had been posted to TikTok on June 11 by their owner Ella Williams-Brown, under @ernie.gigi.
An overlaid text on the video poked fun at the contrast between how the cats were expected to behave and what actually happened.
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"Them: be careful when she comes back from surgery because he could reject her. Him," the text read, while the post was captioned: "He just wants her to get better."
Williams-Brown, who is based in London, England, told Newsweek she never expected the short video to gain such widespread attention. To date, it has been viewed more than 1.6 million times and liked by over 395,000 users.
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"I honestly did not expect such a huge response to the video, I just thought Ernie was so cute looking after Gigi," she said. "It has been so lovely to see how many people have connected with it and shared their own stories too.
"I love that something so simple has sparked so much joy!"
The short clip resonated with pet owners and animal lovers who flooded the comments with emotional responses and personal stories about animal companionship and care.
Concerns about pets rejecting companions after surgery are common, as animals can become disoriented by changes in scent, location or behavior. But Ernie's nurturing reaction to Gigi's return has drawn admiration for what many viewers saw as a quiet act of empathy.
"Animals in love is my favorite corner of TikTok," one viewer said, while another added: "He [is] getting the places she probably can't right now."
"In a world of boys he is a gentleman," a third viewer said.
To Williams-Brown's delight, the cats' behavior is not only attracting online attention—it has also gone to their heads, she joked.
"I told my cats they are famous, and they are now full divas," Williams-Brown said. "They already acted like royalty, and this has just fed their egos even more!"
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
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