The Heartbreaking Pet Cam Moment That Almost Made Owner Cancel His Vacation

A cat called Pawl almost made his owner turn his car around on the way to his vacation, after seeing his reaction to being left at home in a pet camera clip that has since gone viral.

In the heartbreaking video, shared on TikTok earlier in September, under the username Catnamedpawl, Pawl can be seen walking around the house with a fish toy in his mouth, continuously meowing and moaning as if he were sad to be home alone.

A caption along the clip explains: "Checked our cameras 10 minutes after we left for vacation and this is what I saw... instant heartbreak. Almost turned the car around to take Pawl with us."

It continued: "The fact he's walking around with his fish makes it that much sadder. (We have babysitters come on [to] check him so he's not too lonely)."

The poster, Jonah, told Newsweek: "I found Pawl about four years ago. I had been living in an apartment on the ground floor for about a week and then a kitten showed up and started scratching at my window. We've been best friends ever since.

"When we go on vacation we have babysitters to watch Pawl, but also always set up cameras to make sure he's doing okay. Typically it's a lot of him just laying around, or looking out the window looking at birds. This time when we checked the cameras it was Pawl roaming around the apartment with his fish making the saddest meows we've ever heard.

"We're going to start practicing going in the car with Pawl to see how he handles road trips. He does already go for stroller rides and walks. Most mornings I actually wake up the fish in front of my bedroom door because Pawls brings it to me every night. I like to think it's his way of showing he's thinking about me."

Even though they don't like to show it, cats love their owners just as much as dogs do. They will form strong attachments to their owners and display their emotions in ways similar to humans, according to the AZPetVet website.

Examples of affectionate feline behavior are headbutting and rubbing the sides of their face against you, rubbing up against your ankles, jumping up on counters or furniture to get closer to you, kneading, purring, meowing, chirping, curling up in your lap, grooming or licking you, and simply acting excited to see you.

The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far received over 12.1 million views and 1.6 million likes on the platform.

One user, The (Anti) Career Coach, commented: "What you mean almost turned around. GO GET PAWL RN." And S.Mack said: "That's why I got my cat a friend.. then another friend.. then another friend."

ADV added: "I know, you best be planning on pawl getting a staycation soon with catnip and new toys."

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.