A video of a man appearing to be more excited about his cat than his girlfriend following a vacation has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip was shared by @emilyyshaw and has had over 764,000 views since it was first posted two days ago.
The footage shows a woman walking alongside a man who is rolling a suitcase along a street. He appears to be the woman's boyfriend, according to previous videos shared by the poster.
The woman asks in the video: "How do you feel about being back?" Her boyfriend replies: "F****** mint. I can't wait to see my cat."
A caption shared with the post reads: "The cat always takes priority."
@emilyyshaw The cat always takes priority 😠#holidayblues
♬ original sound - emilyyshaw
Preferring Pets Over Humans
The boyfriend's reaction in the latest viral clip is unsurprising because "pets are a part of our family lives and are regulators of the most elementary feelings and emotions in humans," according to a November 2020 study in Animals.
The researchers found that "for most owners, their pets are very important beings, and those who establish an emotional connection with their pets experience love, joy, and peace."
A September 2022 study in Pet Behaviour Science found that "the preference for animal companionship over human companionship may be predicted by attitudes about pet ownership."
The study showed that "people had similar positive feelings about their pet-human and human-human relationships." However, "people were more likely to react negatively towards a human compared to a pet," according to the study.
The latest post isn't the first time an owner has prioritized their pet. Back in 2022, a Reddit user shared a post about being given an ultimatum of getting rid of his cat or losing his girlfriend.
The poster wrote that his girlfriend "gave me an ultimatum, telling me it's either her or my cat. She said that I have to choose and I made my choice. It's been a week since the break up...
"I love her [his cat Connie] and I also promised her on the day I adopted her from the shelter that I will always take care of her. I am keeping that promise," the user wrote at the time.
'The Biggest Green Flag Ever'
Several TikTok users praised the boyfriend in the viral post, saying they can relate to his reaction.
Floor posted, "I want a boyfriend like him," and Christopher McCloske wrote: "He is a keeper! The cat is waiting :D"
Claire commented that it was "the biggest green flag ever," and user3623966821837 agreed, saying "I can relate 100000 %. That's a green flag! PROTECT THIS MAN."
Suzanne Kate22 wrote: "Cat dads are the best."
Ally Jayne commented: "Me whenever Ive been out of the house for more than an hour."
User marta posted: "me after just running to the grocery store."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
Do you have funny and adorable pet stories or videos/pictures of your pet 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.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel and health. She is also a South Korea expert who regularly covers Korean culture and entertainment, from the latest K-dramas, including Squid Game, Korean films and K-pop news to exclusive interviews with the biggest Korean actors. She is the author of the book How to Live Korean, which is available in 11 languages, and co-author of the book Hello, South Korea: Meet the Country Behind Hallyu.
Soo also extensively covered the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022, reporting several exclusive stories on the outbreak, including Newsweek's first-ever interview with top infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and subsequent interviews with the former chief medical advisor for the White House. She's also reported on various other major events, from the Black Lives Matter movement and the war in Afghanistan to the U.S. and Canadian elections and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, after joining the general news desk of Newsweek in 2019. Before Newsweek, Soo was a travel reporter and commissioning editor for the award-winning travel section of the Daily Telegraph (a leading U.K. national newspaper) for nearly a decade from 2010, reporting on the latest in the travel industry, from travel news, consumer travel and aviation issues to major new openings and emerging destinations.
She is a graduate of Binghamton University in New York and the journalism school of City University in London, where she earned a Masters in international journalism.
Languages spoken: English and Korean.
Follow her on Instagram at @miss.soo.kim or X, formerly Twitter, at @MissSooKim
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