Hearts melt over blind cat's "joy" at finding a toy by himself
The heartwarming moment a blind cat discovered a toy mouse has brought joy to millions of viewers in a now-viral video.
In the clip, blind cat Woody stumbles upon a toy mouse and instantly perks up, hopping in delight and launching into a playful frenzy. The on-screen caption sums it up perfectly: "The joy of finding a toy when you're blind."
Woody's owner, Liz, who lives in Boston, told Newsweek: "He was surrendered at a shelter at age 3, where they identified him as blind, it was progressive so likely he could've had treatment but didn't so now he has irreversible eye loss. He was the most scared cat at the shelter, since he couldn't see, so I decided to take him."
To keep Woody company, Liz, who only shared her first name, adopted a second cat, Pingree, a month later. "I didn't realize she'd become his seeing-eye cat," she said. "They love each other a lot."
The pair quickly developed a strong bond. "I'll come home find the two of them running around with the toys or else sleeping curled against each other," Liz said. "And definitely at night they love to play together. I have to shut the bedroom door so I can get some peace and quiet. I let them in early in the morning for snuggles before I go to work."
A blind cat can live a long and fulfilling life, no different to their seeing counterparts, as Best Friends Animal Sanctuary said: "Most blind cats accept and adjust to their condition. They find new ways to navigate in their environment and overcome challenges by using their remaining senses. With a little help from their family, they can have full and happy lives."
Just like Pingree, the website noted: "Sighted pets often know that something is different about a blind cat, and many will take on the role of a 'seeing-eye friend.'"
For Liz, What started as a casual Instagram post to share the sweet and silly moment quickly snowballed. "I have too many on my phone and just wanted to share the funny and sweet clips with people, but I had no idea it would blow up this big," she said. Since being shared to her account, @woodyandpingree, last week, the video has been seen 6.4 million times.
"I've been really happily surprised at the reactions especially the comment section for the popular video. Unfortunately, in this day and age, I always expect to see negative comments, but the people in the comments thread have been incredibly supportive and loving."
Online, people can't get enough of the duo and shared their reactions to Woody finding the toy.
"The way we were ALL rooting for him." said @miles.moza. While viewer @strawbbzz_ wrote: "I love how he still does all the regular cat stuff like hunting without having a clue of what he's doing."
"Watching this video gave me JOY," wrote @vimbovalms. While Instagram user @sprinklethesiberian said: "This is SO sweet I cannot."
Liz is delighted that others have shared in the joy she sees every day. "If at least one other person can experience the joy I get watching my cats play every day. I think that would be nice. I'm glad so many did."
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.