Cat owners know that for the most part that their furry friends like their independence.
But when Cynthia Bennett and her boyfriend adopted a 14-week-old cat named Baloo, the avid hikers were stunned by the kitten’s insistence on joining them and their dog, Henry, on their epic hikes.
And now pictures of Baloo and Henry hiking together are warming the hearts of animal lovers everywhere.
Henry became a part of Cynthia’s family back in 2014 when she and her boyfriend adopted him.
It was love at first sight for the couple even though they had planned to pick a golden retriever mix before they saw him at an animal adoption event.
Henry was only 14 weeks old and already five times bigger than similar puppies his age. When Cynthia entered Henry’s pen, the overgrown pup immediately curled up into her lap, rolled onto his belly and put his head over her arm. Cynthia knew that he was definitely the one.
“I think we only had him for three days when we took him on our first hike,” Cynthia told The Dodo. “He found the steepest, tallest rock around and he ran up to the top of it to look over the edge.”
And so he became known as their “little mountain goat.”
Cynthia and her boyfriend, who had moved to Colorado so they could enjoy hiking trips, were delighted that Henry enjoyed the great outdoors as much as they did.
Then this year, they decided to add another pet to their family. Cynthia wanted a rescue kitten and took five months until she found just the right feline friend in a Siamese kitten mix named Baloo. And what happened when she took Baloo home was so surprising.
She and her boyfriend introduced Baloo to Henry and the kitten just fell in love with him — all he wanted to do was play and snuggle with him.
What was even more shocking was that Baloo refused to be left behind when Henry went with Cynthia and her boyfriend for a hike.
“If I touch Henry’s leash, Baloo will start screaming at the door,” Cynthia said. Baloo was so eager to get outside and explore with his new family that Cynthia started harness training him, and Baloo showed himself to be quite a natural.
It wasn’t long until Baloo was joining family trips.
“I get a lot of questions about how we got him used to it. But he really loves it. He really wants to go outside,” Cynthia said.
Baloo goes on every adventure trip that Henry does and Cynthia is over the moon with the way that her new family has turned out.
For more pictures, check out Henry’s Instagram.
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