If you’ve ever doubted whether mortal enemies could ever get along, best friends Ranj and Peanut will prove you wrong.
Maggie Szpot found Ranj, an orange tabby, when he was just a stray kitten in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. When Szpot brought home two new rats, Peanut and her sister Mocha, she was worried that his hunting instincts would come out.
That never happened. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
“Peanut first met Ranj when [Peanut] was still a baby,” Szpot said. “I had brought Peanut and her sister out of their cage to play, and I put them in a fenced area for them to run around in, and Ranj actually jumped inside to get a closer look. He is always curious of new things … they quickly became good friends and Peanut followed Ranj around everywhere.”
Mocha never became as friendly with the cat as her sister was, but Ranj and Peanut were inseparable.
“If Ranj went to eat out of his food bowl, Peanut would come and eat with him,” Szpot said. “I think those were the cutest moments, when Peanut was so determined to be with Ranj that she would overcome all kinds of obstacles to be with him.”
One of Peanut’s favorite things to do was snuggle in Ranj’s fur and lick the cat lovingly, and Ranj sometimes returned the favor.
Despite Ranj’s attempts at getting some ‘alone time’, Peanut was adamant on spending all of her waking hours with her favorite feline. “There were times when Peanut invaded Ranj’s personal space too much and he’d leave or hop onto anything off the ground to get away from her,” Szpot explained.
“Sometimes Peanut would literally crawl all over Ranj, and he didn’t enjoy that too much.” Szpot added. “She never quite understood the concept of personal space, but Ranj was good at tolerating her antics!”
Sadly, domesticated rats don’t have long life spans, and Peanut passed away in 2010 at two years old.
Szpot said that Ranj seemed to miss his little friend after her death. But these days, someone else keeps the 10-year-old tabby occupied, and he’s a friend of the same feather — er, fur.
Timmy, along with Szpot’s two pet birds, keep the old cat company. And it seems like Ranj continues to be as sweet and loving with the new addition to the family.
Although he’ll never have another friend quite as special as Peanut.
Watch the darling duo snuggle it up below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ikm3o5hDks
Szpot documents the adventures of Ranj and his other animal friends on Facebook and YouTube.