Granted, dogs and cats don’t always get along, but throw a rat into the mix and no one would ever expect these animals to become the best of friends. However, this remarkable trio that was brought into the Oshkosh Area Humane Society animal shelter in Wisconsin are now inseparable buddies.
Meet pup Sasha, adorable kitten Jack, and Tweaks, the rat. Their owners brought them to the shelter because they couldn’t properly care for them anymore.
“They had to downsize their home, and they weren’t able to take the three animals with them, so they brought them here,” Cheryl Rosenthal, communications and education coordinator at the animal center, said to The Dodo. “A lot of people would say, ‘Why would you do that?’ But not every place will accept pets, let alone three of them.”
All three of them underwent medical exams, which is the first time that the trio would have to be separated, and not one of them liked it. Jack the cat quickly became nervous and erratic when he wasn’t near his friends.
Luckily, one of the staff members realized that Jack might feel more comfortable with his animal buddies around.
“He became very frightened and was growling and not very cooperative at all,” the coordinator mentions. “So one of the staff said, ‘Why don’t we try to bring the dog in?’ And it was just amazing. As soon as the dog came in, he was like a totally different cat. He just became more relaxed knowing that his buddy was there.”
It didn’t take long for them to realize that splitting them was wasn’t a good idea, so they decided to do everything together as a group. After Sasha was brought in, Tweaks the rat was invited to join the party as well.
“We thought, ‘Well maybe we should bring the rat in,'” Cheryl adds. “So we did. We put the rat down, and right away the rat was running all over the dog, and going up and licking his face, and the dog was licking the rat. So it was like, ‘OK – I guess they really are friends.'”
The rat expressed his friendship by lying on Jack’s fur as if he was giving him a big hug.
“The cat was sleeping, and Tweaks crawled up by the cat, and then went under his front paws and just laid there, like they were best friends,” Cheryl recalls. “It was pretty amazing.”
Sasha, Jack, and Tweaks were constantly in the same room ever since.
“All three of them love to give kisses,” Cheryl said.
The animal center realized that these three shouldn’t be separated at adoption, so they were looking for someone who was willing to adopt all three of them. The shelter even gave the group an appropriate name – The Rat Pack.
After three weeks, the OAHS finally found someone who was willing to take all three animals in.
When Kathy Berens and her daughter stepped inside and met The Rat Pack, they instantly fell in love with Jack and Sasha.
“They had adopted a cat from us, and they were thinking about getting another cat, but they also wanted a dog,” Cheryl said. “So Kathy kind of overheard some of our staff talking about Tweaks and Sasha and Jack, and she’s like, ‘This sounds like a ready-made family. This might be ideal for us.'”
The woman wasn’t so sure about adopting Tweaks, but she luckily changed her mind after one of the volunteers told her she should meet him.
“At first she said, ‘No, no – I don’t think I like rats,'” Cheryl said. “But [the volunteers] said, ‘You should really come in and meet him – he’s really exceptional.'” And she did. She told me yesterday, ‘I’m so glad I did, because after holding him, and knowing how affectionate he is, you can’t help but fall in love with him.'”
“For all of our staff, it’s kind of bittersweet. We’ve all gotten very attached to the threesome, but we’re just very excited that they’re going home.”
The three best friends have finally found their loving forever home with Kathy and her daughter, together.
“They have touched a lot of hearts other than just mine and I am grateful and feel very privileged to be able to be a part of this,” Kathy concludes.
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We have a love triangle going on here at OAHS. And it involves a dog, a cat and a rat! Tweaks (rat), Sasha (dog) and Jack (cat) came from the same house and we’d really like to keep this trio together because, well….they love each other! Jack the cat is visually impaired and he depends on Sasha for emotional support. Sasha the dog loves Tweaks the rat and Tweaks just loves everyone! Take a look at this video compilation of The Rat Pack and consider keeping this little family together by adopting all three!
Posted by Oshkosh Area Humane Society on Sunday, March 19, 2017
