Cat Jealous of Feline Trying to Steal 'Boyfriend' Has Internet in Stitches

The hilarious moment a cat showed her jealousy when her "boyfriend" started giving affection to another feline has gone viral.

The video has over 4.8 million views on TikTok and sparked conversation with viewers. Posted in December by @_moonneverback, the clip shows a black-and-white feline lavishing attention on a ginger cat, tenderly licking its face. However, before long, a calico cat comes in with an unmistakably upset reaction, walking between the two others. The text overlay reads: "Calico is jealous her boyfriends started kissing."

Cats licking each other is common behavior in the feline world, serving various purposes such as communication, bonding, and establishing hierarchy. While cats don't have romantic relationships in the human sense, they can form strong attachments to other felines around them.

Research finds that cats do get jealous. A study conducted by Butcher et al. in 2020 observed 52 felines in Japan. Researchers visited the pet's home with a cat-shaped plush to represent a "social rival" and a non-feline-shaped furry pillow to represent a non-social object. Owners were instructed to pet and talk to the cat plush for 15 seconds where the animal could see, and then do the same with the pillow.

After each session, the cat's reactions were observed and recorded, and results saw that felines focused more on the objects than on their owners. However, the pets were more likely to focus on the stuffed cat than the furry pillow after their owner stroked it, showing that they may feel some form of jealousy toward the object.

In more than 5,300 comments, people shared their reactions to the cat politics in the viral clip.

Toby dubbed the felines "Polyamorous cats." Polyamory, or consensual nonmonogamy, refers to having multiple intimate relationships with the knowledge of everyone involved.

"I love how she just wedges between them," TikTok user Katherine wrote.

Maeve posted that it was like a "meowange a trois," a play on the phrase loaned from the French ménage à trois, directly translating to "household of three" and referring to a relationship consisting of three people.

Others thought that the dynamic might be slightly different. One commenter wrote: "It is the mom the dad and the baby."

Newsweek reached out to @_moonneverback via TikTok for comment.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our "Pet of the Week" lineup.