Lady was a mess. After Samantha Kreisler adopted the dog from a Miami, Florida, shelter, Lady got nervous being left alone. Undergraduate Kreisler asked her instructors if she could bring the sweet mixed-breed dog to class, and they agreed. When Kreisler went for her master’s degree, however, professors said N-O to the doggo.
Enter Kitty, a cute kitten whom Kreisler thought would calm Lady down. It worked.
“Oh, they were snuggling from Day 1,” Kreisler told us. “Probably within an hour of knowing each other.”
Kitty came from the same shelter as Lady, in a cardboard pet carrier the shelter uses. Once Kitty hopped out, Kreisler says Lady was immediately in love.
“She wouldn’t stop following her around, nudging her closer, licking her butt — which in dog world is a maternal sign; puppies cannot express their anal glands on their own so their dog moms do it for them,” Kreisler told us. “Lady brought Kitty her favorite dog toys and even brought her doggy bed over! My heart melted.”
Kreisler says Kitty was a little unsure at first. She described Kitty as “like 1 pound” and Lady being a giant to her, so the tabby was a smidge scared.
“Once Kitty realized that she wasn’t going to eat her, and fell asleep next to Lady’s warm body, then the love was mutual,” she said. “They were snuggling within an hour of meeting each other and have been inseparable ever since.”
Kreisler says the cat is a stress-reliever for Lady. Before coming to the shelter, Lady had been found alone on the street, where she had lived her whole life; shelter workers think Kitty’s mom had abandoned her because she was so young and small to be by herself. Kreisler thinks that because they both had lonely starts in life at the shelter, they’re dependent on each other for emotional support and stress release.
“I think that having a buddy in life is a way for animals to relieve stress and build confidence,” Kreisler said. “I mean look at humans; life is better with friends right? Same with my pets. For Lady, having someone to be there when her humans aren’t has made the world of difference for her anxiety. Kitty is her support, when I give Lady a bath, Kitty will be sitting on the edge of the tub monitoring me and making sure everything is OK.”
Yes, life is better with friends. These two BFFs prove it, and we love seeing that friendship.
By: Anastasia Thrift
Samantha Kreisler/Instagram
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