A cat’s emotional reaction to seeing his late best friend on a TV screen has left social-media users trying, and failing, to hold back the tears.

Cat owner Annie Tank shared the heartbreaking clip on TikTok (@annieetank) showing the moment her feline spotted his late friend on the TV and instantly jumped into action. The poor cat swiftly approached the television set and tried to paw at the screen as if reaching for his friend who sadly passed away.

Tank said that she “didn’t realize what he was doing at first,” but then she understood that he was longing for the feline who had been a part of his life for so long.

She shared the clip on TikTok, adding that it was “the purest and saddest video” she has ever had to make.

In just a matter of days, the clip has gone viral with more than 5.9 million views and over 1.3 million likes on TikTok at the time of writing.

Newsweek has contacted Tank via Instagram for comment. We cannot verify the details of the video.

After the footage of the cat’s reaction to his friend appearing on the screen, the TikTok post then shows several more clips and pictures of the two felines when they were together in the past. The cats could be seen cuddling up to each other and sitting beside each other in the window.

While felines can engage with things they see on a screen to an extent, Hill’s Pet Nutrition notes that they don’t have the same level of perspective as humans do. Cats can feel entertained by color or movement, but they don’t have the cognitive ability to process the images and sounds into a more-complex understanding.

Due to the structure of their eyes, Hill’s Pet Nutrition highlights that cats are more likely to engage in television when it contains a combination of red, green, and blue paired with objects moving quickly. Felines may also show interest when the screen shows other cats, although research has not been able to determine when they can recognize other felines or even themselves.

What Did TikTok Users Say?

In the days since the TikTok video was shared, it has left plenty of social media users in floods of tears. With almost 10,000 comments on the post so far, many shared their sorrow for the grieving cat.

One comment read: “I’m crying because he doesn’t understand that she’s on the tv.”

Another person wrote: “don’t EVER show me this again i cannot stop crying.”

A third TikTok user replied: “not him touching the screen with his little paw, oh god. I’m not okay.”

One comment read: “I thought it was a random cat. I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A RANDOM CAT. I will never recover.”

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