Former Homeless Cat Refuses To Change His Ways: 'Old Habits Die Hard'

A once homeless cat living in California has now joined a family, but not without bringing his old street habits into the home.

In a November 2 video posted to TikTok by @simplylivingwithbri, a cat named Thuggie showed his cat sibling that he still runs the street. Or in this case, the house.

Brianna Dias-Trejo and her fiancé noticed Thuggie running around outside their apartment in 2021. The cat always looked like he was on a mission, Dias-Trejo told Newsweek via email. They thought he was too cute to be homeless and slowly but surely, she started to make progress with Thuggie by leaving out food and water for him.

"He was definitely nervous to have a human try to get so close, but he knew I was just dropping off food," she said. "I never tried to pet him yet because I didn't want him to run away and then possibly not even eat the food."

Along with the daily food and water, Dias-Trejo also brought out a cat toy and played with him. Eventually, she could get close enough to pet the feline. Then on March 4, 2022, she was able to get Thuggie in a cat carrier and to a vet.

The adjustment for Thuggie from being an outdoor cat to living inside was not easy, Dias-Trejo said. He first stayed in their bathroom where she would spend hours with him. Then, as he got more comfortable, he started to explore more of the house.

Thuggie really got along with the couple's other cat Blue, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year. They then brought home a new cat, Minkah, and the two do not stop playing with each other.

"They wrestle A LOT, every day, it is so entertaining," Dias-Trejo told Newsweek. "But they also sleep with each other and occasionally spoon and cuddle! It is adorable. They are brothers at this point."

The funny part about these two cat brothers wrestling is the fact that Thuggie is smaller than Minkah. Dias-Trejo said Thuggie is about 6 pounds, while Minkah, who just turned 1-years-old, weighs 13 pounds. But as the text overlay in the TikTok video says, old habits die hard.

Luckily, Minkah gets back at Thuggie. He causes a ruckus in the house, jumping off furniture and even Thuggie himself. There is never a dull moment in the house with the back and forth and constant playfulness.

The hilarious clip of Thuggie pinning down Minkah quickly went viral on the social media platform. In just one day of being posted, the video racked up over 6.7 million views and 1.4 million likes.

TikTok users were both impressed and not surprised by Thuggie's ways. One viewer commented: "He may be tiny, but he takes no crap."

"I'm not saying I'm ENTIRELY on Thuggie's side but...that *is* an orange cat," wrote another user. To be fair, orange cats do get a reputation for being very energetic.

Another user added: "A tuxedo and a ginger? You chose this chaos."

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