Moment Cat Gives Approval to Owner’s Newborns Melts Hearts

A cat named Cannoli has delighted the internet after giving her owner’s newborn twins her approval in a video that has quickly gone viral on social media.

In the heartwarming video, shared on TikTok in July, under the username @2.ny.dragons, the 12-year-old cat can be seen approaching one of the twins’ carrier and giving it a good sniff, before headbutting it, as if approving of the baby.

Then after a quick “hi” to her dad, she turns back toward the baby, only to find out that there’s another baby right next to the one she had met a moment before, looking exactly like her, and after another quick sniff, she’s approved too!

“The moment when the furbaby you rescued in your 20s meets your human babies…” says a caption shared along with the heartwarming video.

The poster, Lynsey, 36, from New York City, told Newsweek that in the viral clip they had just arrived home from the hospital with their 4-day-old twin girls, and were really excited for them to meet their feline sister.

“As soon as we set the car seats down Cannoli came over to greet them and immediately approved of her new family members. The twins are now 4 months old and Cannoli has been such a good big sister, unphased by any crying and always keeping watch close by, even at 3 a.m.!” she said.

While it’s commonplace to think that cats are not good with babies, it is simply not true, in fact, the opposite is most often true.

An article shared by Petful, written in collaboration with a cat behavior expert, explains that when bringing a new baby home for the first time, it’s important to let your cat sniff around them.

“Allowing the cat to look at, smell, and even touch your newest family member will assure your cat that he has nothing to fear,” the website said.

To make your cat’s transition to big sibling smoother, it’s important to show them that they still matter to you and that you’re not replacing the with the baby.

You can show them you still care by praising and rewarding their good behavior with the baby, giving them treats when you feed the baby, and setting some time to play alone with your cat when the baby is asleep.

The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 1.7 million views and 257,800 likes on the platform.

One user, Dusty, commented: “She was probably thinking ‘kind of a small litter but good job anyway!”

Tay said: “My cat always thinks my babies are her babies, she swats me when they cry.”

Gibby added: “Oh you brought home more servants for me! Kinda small but I’ll train them.”

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.