24 Heartwarming Stories Of Pets Going The Extra Mile To Be Loving
"My huge, fat, lazy male cat would take hot dogs and go feed them to a stray cat and her kitten."
1. My huge, fat, lazy male cat would take hot dogs and go feed them to a stray cat and her kitten.
“I had a cat that was huge, fat, and lazy. He would literally sleep 22 hours a day.
One day, he was frantically begging me for food and ignored his usual treats until I brought out a fairly large hot dog, which he grabbed and ran outside with. After a couple of days of this, I watched where he went and it turns out he was bringing food to a stray cat and her kitten.”
2. My tabby would yell back at my mom when my mom yelled at me.
“When my mother would get mad at me and yell, my elderly tabby would get in between us and angry yowl back at her. A couple of times when I really deserved it, my mother still had to stop because she was trying really hard not to laugh. The cat would then stick close to me and glare like a goddam queen if my mother was nearby. She loved my father though and would be conspicuously absent when he was telling me off :P
Still miss her and even made a character for her in my D&D game too.”
3. When my dog accidentally nips me he immediately stops playing, licks the ‘hurt’ spot, and checks me all over for injuries.
“You know how sometimes when you play with a dog, they miss the toy & either bash your hand with their teeth or nip you a bit?
When my dog does that, he immediately stops playing, licks the ‘hurt’ spot, and checks me all over for injuries.”
4. One of my rats shares his snacks with me.
“I have two rats and one of them often hangs around on my desk when I play video games and I frequently give him snacks which he eats behind my monitor. This one time he literally brought me the half of his snack and put it in my hand and walked off behind the monitor again. Sharing is caring.”
5. My dog growls at my mom when she tries to beat me.
“I have abusive parents. Every night they come home and will barge into my room to yell and beat me up in some way. It was this way for as long as I could remember, but then I got a dog and I guess she picked up on it all and would growl whenever my mom (who was the worst) came in. My mom is not a fan of animals in general, so she’s started to not push it with the dog around. It’s been about a year now and my parents rarely to never beat me up now. I owe everything to my dog and I treat her like a queen. I’ll never be able to repay my pup.”
6. My dog named me. He gave me a name: ‘boof’-a single, soft bark, not like any of his other barks.
“My dog named me. He gave me a name: ‘boof’-a single, soft bark, not like any of his other barks. As we got to know each other, it evolved to be my name (or his way of summoning me-to be sure, I cannot say that he thinks his ‘name’ is Vito, or whether the concept of a name is relevant to dogs, but Vito is the sound I make when I want his attention, and Boof is the sound he makes when he wants my attention). I was working with a trainer who believes that training is a dialogue-it’s not about teaching the dog to obey but about building communication, and learning to read and understand what your dog is telling you. Our dogs are always communicating with us and we need to learn their cues and language-that is my trainer’s approach. So, I realized my dog has different types of barks for different occasions, and he had a certain bark when he needed something that I could provide-a single, soft bark. I became sensitive to this sound, as I realized it always meant he was summoning me because he had gotten stuck somewhere (he’s very adventurous) or found something disturbing (a scorpion once). With time, the bark became softer, almost a whisper, and as often as not these days it’s his way of calling me to join him in the yard in the evening, where he likes to hang out but not alone. He’s not stuck or distressed, he just wants Boof to join him, and if Boof does not respond within a few minutes (sometimes I’m in the middle of something), he’ll say Boof again, softly and patiently, until Boof joins him in the yard to hang out and breathe the evening air together.”
7. My cat had a name for me: ‘Mickow.’ He ONLY ever said ‘Mickow’ when he was talking to me.
“My cat, Beaver, who passed away recently, had a name for me: ‘Mickow.’ I would walk in the front door after work and I would hear him from my bedroom: ‘MICKOWOWOW?!’ and he would come running out with a string of little noises like he was telling me about his day. He ONLY ever said ‘Mickow’ when he was talking to me. Whenever my friends didn’t believe me I would call him and he would respond with ‘MICKOW?!’ and they were converted into believers. He also called my mom ‘Mauwahm,’ which I think was him copying what I called her. He was the best cat I ever had and I miss him so freaking much.”
8. My dog saved me from a bad dream.
“I can tell when my dog is dreaming when he starts to exhale heavily and when he lets out this ‘whoop’ sound. I’ll usually let him be, but on the off chance that I think that it’s getting a little too intense and if the sound turns into a whimper, I’ll wake him up.
One night I was nearing the end of a dream at the point where you’re kind of halfway between asleep and awake. I can’t remember the details of the dream, all I know is that it was either a nightmare or just very stressful. As I was waking up I realized I was feeling something making repeated contact with my chest, and I opened my eyes to see my dog sitting over me batting his paw at me. Once I made eye contact with him he stopped, sat for a second, and then went back to his bed on the floor. I figure I must have been breathing irregularly or something, and he just thought that he needed to return the favor and get me out of my dream.”
9. One time I had a nosebleed and my dog got super-scared.
“One time I had a nosebleed and my dog got super-scared…he kept trying to stop me from moving around and would run back and forth between me and my mother’s door, crying and barking the whole time. When I got my nose to stop bleeding, he was all wiggles.”
10. My dog sleeps on my legs to calm my restless leg syndrome.
“A lot of the time at night I get restless legs. It’s beyond frustrating and keeps me up. My dog (lab) noticed this and started laying on my legs when it happens. The weight really helps and I can sleep. It’s amazing to me that she figured it out all in her own, she’s never been trained to do anything of the sort.”
11. My cat pulled her head back because she had to sneeze and seemingly did not want to sneeze in my face.
“As a kid I had a cat that we loved to pet. Once while I was petting her and came close to her face, she pulled her head back because she had to sneeze and seemingly did not want to sneeze in my face.”
12. My old cat used to follow me round the block to the corner shop and wait for me outside, then walk back with me.
“My old cat used to follow me round the block to the corner shop and wait for me outside, then walk back with me.
Also, when I moved away for university he would follow me down the road to the train station and cry at the gate when I left. It broke my heart. He made up for it by running to greet me when he heard me walking back down the street on my return. I miss that cat.”
13. My roommate’s dog tries to console me when I cry.
“My roommate’s dog wouldn’t come out from under the table, so I pretended to cry while keeled over on the floor. He came out immediately to console me.”
14. My dog sat two hours at the door waiting for me to get home from college.
“My dog was 14 when I went off to university. When I went home for Thanksgiving (a few days early), I was able to sneak off to see my best friend the night I got in. When I got home around 1am I was greeted by the sight of my dog at the bottom of the stairs, and my mom telling me he had been watching the door for 2 hours, fighting falling asleep until I got home. Melted my heart.”
15. My cat sat in my lap and purred when a man was being verbally abusive toward me.
“My 14 year old cat HATES being touched, and touching a person. She’ll tolerate a single pet here and there, but most of the time she just likes to sit nearby and ‘hang out.’ She likes people a lot and will follow me around, but she’s just not a touchy-feely cat.
Last year I visited my mother and brought my cat with me. Unfortunately, my mother’s husband has always been verbally abusive. He decided to take his anger over something or other out on me during the visit, and reduced me to heaving sobs while my mother pretended nothing was happening. My cat heard me crying and ran into the room, jumped on my lap without hesitation, and began purring louder than I have ever heard her purr in my life while she kneaded my lap. She let me pet her as much as I wanted.
She’d never done that before or since, but I’ll never, ever forget how much that meant to me.”
16. My cat kept me company while I was losing consciousness from being too drunk.
“Kind of ashamed to admit this one, but my cat recently died and it was a crazy glimpse into the intelligence and emotional intelligence of this animal.
I was crazy drunk and on my way home a friend of mine offered a dab and I drunkenly accepted it. HUGE mistake. I’ve never been as affected as I was that night. I stumbled into the house and pretty much felt like I was going to die. This cat, who is usually indifferent, noticed I was pretty much incapable of anything and was jumping from counter to counter to be next to me while meowing loudly. I was kind of lapsing in and out of consciousness and every time it happened he would reach his paw out and tap my face lightly.
He then stayed with me the entire night. I know it sounds kind of dumb, but there was something behind that cat’s eyes. He was just present, aware, and doing his cat best to help.
He died a couple of months ago and I haven’t touched alcohol since. Miss you DaVinci. Here he is. :’)”
17. My youngest cat would attack my dog anytime he barked and woke up the baby.
“When I brought home my new baby my youngest cat would attack my dog anytime he barked and woke up the baby.”
18. My cat always keeps guard of my daughter.
“My oldest cat always knew I was pregnant before me or my husband knew. She just knew. She was never an affectionate cat. Never wanted to be held. When I was pregnant though, the cat was always right by my side and her favorite place to lay ended up being my pregnant belly. After we brought each baby home she had to be the first to check them out of the multiple cats that we own. My oldest daughter and her created this inseparable bond and the oldest cat was always wherever she was. Even to this day she’ll insist on keeping tabs on her. When it’s 9PM sharp this cat will start meowing loudly and leading her to her bedroom as if to say ‘Hey, kid! It’s bedtime!’ and she sleeps with her every single night, keeping watch for any monsters seemingly. You can open that door at any hour in the night and she’s wide awake just watching, keeping guard. She is the best.”
19. My dog licked my tears while I cried about losing another dog.
“We put one of my dogs down about four months ago he was only four. From his cancer diagnosis to having to put him down was only a month. He went downhill so fast. It was really really hard. I drank too much recently and came home and just cried. He licked my tears and then stayed with me all night he usually sleeps with my brother and his wife. He knew I needed it. It was an usually self-loathing night.”
20. My cat stayed by my side while I was sick instead of going outside to enjoy the warm weather.
“I was bedridden for about 6 weeks. (Only limited movement)
This was in spring just when the weather warmed up. My cat didn’t like the cold but also didn’t like staying in the house all winter. So normally as soon as the weather warmed up, he’d spend most of his time outside…sometimes only coming in for meals.
But he gave all that up to lay beside me every day I was bedridden. He’d spend hour after hour with me lying quietly next to me.
He did that until I was better.
He loved me more than he loved getting to enjoy the outside.”
21. My cat Sam purred and cuddled against me while I cried.
“Vivid memory.
When I was a kid, my first cat’s name was Sam. I had a cat before Sam, but it wasn’t really my cat and it hated me. So Sam was #1 and the coolest thing ever in my eyes. Sam was a fuckin’ badass, like he took no shit and didn’t care about anything. He was nice to kids, was okay if you patted him (not too much tho, don’t make it weird bro) and liked to sleep in the sun in high places. He was truly the coolest cat I’ve ever known.
One time he climbed up to a balcony, fell off, and broke his front leg. He got a cast. He then, maybe a month later, climbed up the balcony, fell off, and broke his leg again.
So anyway, that was Sam. He was wicked cool. Even as a kid I knew he was the coolest creature ever, probably.
One day, I got really upset. I can’t remember why, I just know I ran to my bedroom, and dropped on the floor sobbing. I must have laid like that for 30 minutes, when I feel a something soft brush against my leg. I looked up and through blurry, tear filled vision, I saw Sam-purring, and cuddling against me. He never did anything like this, and I knew he saw another being in pain and just wanted to do what he could to help.
Power to ya Sam. I love you still. You were and always will be the coolest cat I’ve ever known.”
22. My dog stopped me from killing myself.
“Pretty much saved my life.
When I was a teenager I struggled a lot with depression. One night I got really drunk and the sadness just overwhelmed me. Aside from drugs and drinking another thing I would do is self-harm to cope. I sat on my bed drunk, crying, and bleeding from my forearm. I thought about just ending it then and slitting my wrist. That’s when Snoopy hopped up on the bed and put his head on my lap. I realized then that as much as I hated myself, my love for him was more powerful. I just couldn’t do that to him or my parents and friends. I decided the next day that I would talk to my parents and try to get some help. A few years of therapy was able to do so much for me and help me turn things around and I owe it to him just simply being there for me.”
23. My dog farted so loud that he woke up and scared himself into a panic, he started crying and brought his favorite blanket to me on the couch.
“My dog farted so loud that he woke up and scared himself into a panic, he started crying and brought his favorite blanket to me on the couch, dropped it in my lap and proceeded to crush my life with his weight on my lap and wrapped himself in his blankie.
24. When I dropped my teddy bear on the floor, my dog picked it up, put it on the bed, and licked my face.
“When I was little, I dropped my teddy bear off of my bed by accident and couldn’t reach it without getting up. My Golden Retriever Lucy saw my struggle and got up from her night post. (She slept in front of my door keeping guard) Lucy picked up my bear, set it back on my bed, licked my face just once and went back to her spot. She was like my Nana from Peter Pan.
RIP Lucy, you were the best dog and friend a girl could ask for.”
