When life gets hard, we seek the company and comfort of those we love—including our animal friends.
Four months ago, Kelly Nugent traveled from Florida to New York to care for her dad, who is being treated for bone marrow cancer.
He started struggling with getting around and performing daily tasks and needed 24-hour care while he was healing.
Kelly said her dad is her best friend and wanted to be there for him during this tough time, but she had two cats—Jelly Donut and Sweet Potato—whom she couldn’t leave at home. So, she decided to just take them with her.
Kelly thought she would be her dad’s sole caregiver, but Sweet Potato proved her wrong. Although the two-year-old feline isn’t a licensed therapy animal, it’s as if he knew that Kelly’s dad needed his companionship, too.
“He’s the sweetest cat on the earth,” she told The Dodo. “He just loves everybody and wants to be around people. He has that dog-like personality.”
Although Kelly’s dad loves animals, he considers himself more of a dog person. He had never owned a cat, and like most people, he didn’t see them as particularly supportive or loving animals.
But when he met Sweet Potato, all of his assumptions were disproved. The feline turned out to be just what he needed during this time.
As soon as Kelly and her cats got there and Sweet Potato acclimated, he became attached to her dad. He refused to leave his side, and the pair is now “attached at the hip.”
“It’s just the sweetest thing you could ever see because I know [Sweet Potato] can sense something’s wrong and that he’s needed,” Kelly said. “So he kind of just stepped up to the plate and was like, ‘This is my job now. I’m gonna help heal you.’ It’s like he knew.”
Kelly’s dad and Sweet Potato have become inseparable. Describing their extraordinary friendship, she said:
“So my dad has a recliner that he sits in and he’ll put his arm on the recliner, and every single time, without fail, Sweet Potato will jump up and sit in the little cove in his arm and cuddle with him. He’ll sleep in his bed or in his room.
Whenever my dad’s computer, [Sweet Potato will] jump on his keyboard. Whenever my dad is sitting at the table to do some of his paperwork, Sweet Potato will sit on the paperwork. He just has to be on top of him.”
Kelly thought their amazing relationship was too good not to share, so she started posting videos of Sweet Potato and her dad on TikTok. As expected, their adorable clips have attracted a large audience.
She read him all the comments, and her dad thinks it’s so cool that random people from all over “were rooting for him.”
But of all the comments, Kelly and her dad’s favorite is when people tell them how much he and Sweet Potato look alike. The father and daughter would even joke that they are twins.
“Sweet Potato has a little white mustache, and my dad has a white mustache … and it makes us laugh so hard,” she said.
Since Sweet Potato took over the role of caregiver, Kelly said her dad’s health has significantly improved.
Kelly is convinced that the emotional support from Sweet Potato, his cuddles, and the mere fact that he’s always there has had a huge impact on her dad.
Here is one of their cute videos.
@french75vintageSometimes all you need is a support cat ##catsoftiktok ##catlover ##supportcat ##bestfriendscheck♬ Home – Edith Whiskers
To see more of this adorable duo’s friendship, you can follow Kelly on TikTok.
Animals really do make our lives better, don’t they?
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