We’ve been told for centuries that cats love chasing mice, and that our feline friends will always be up for a game of chase if one of the cheese-loving rodents is involved. Indeed, the phrase ‘cat-and-mouse game’ has been a fixture of the English language for a long time.
However, to the surprise of thousands of TikTokers, one cat has proven to be an exception to the rule by appearing to fear mice in a hilarious social media video that has left countless users in hysterics. The viral video, which has been viewed more than 2.8 million times to date, captures the black cat cowering away from a nest of mice before attempting to flee from them by running under a table.
@gabidaiagi We’re calling them tom and jerry 🐈⬛🐁
♬ Funny – Gold-Tiger
“My parents got this cat to help get rid of this mice and this is how it’s going,” the video’s creator wrote alongside the post.
The cat, and his content creator owner Gabi Daiagi, live in Florida.
The post had been captioned: “We’re calling them Tom and Jerry.”
What Do The Comments Say?
Since it was shared to the social media platform on September 2 by @GabiDaiagi, the TikTok post has been liked by over 380,000 users and commented on more than 3,000 times. Plenty have shared their amusement at the viral moment in the post’s comments section, while others have alerted the cat’s owner to the risk of toxoplasmosis in the mice.
“That cat is ADORABLE! Keep him away from that toxoplasmosis mouse,” one user wrote.
“The mouse may have toxoplasmosis. It makes them unafraid of cats so that it can replicate in the cats digestive tract,” another user added.
“That’s a sign of Toxoplasmosis in the mouse,” shared a different user.
The U.K’s National Health Service (NHS) describes toxoplasmosis as a common infection that you can catch from the poo of infected cats, or infected meat. It’s also a cat parasite, known in that mutated context as Toxoplasma gondii, which causes infected rodents to lose their fear of feline predators. This can explain why the mice in the TikTok video were so confident around the cat, while the cat appeared frightened of them.
The TikTok post can be seen here.
Newsweek reached out to @GabiDaiagi for comment via TikTok.
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