Grieving dog pays sweetest tribute to guinea pig best friend

"He climbed in and wouldn't leave.” No Images? [Click here]( August 15, 2018 Good morning! Today we have a dog’s goodbye to his best friend, a kitten who chose her own family and a pup with the strangest smile. 1. Heartbroken Dog Can't Accept That His Guinea Pig Friend Is Really Gone Photo Credit: Joseph Scaramucci On the surface, Mattis and Otis couldn't have been more different — Mattis being a bulldog, and Otis a little guinea pig. But despite the contrast in their sizes and species the furry pair formed a profound connection where it mattered most: the heart. And now, in the wake of Otis' passing, the love they shared has never been clearer. Mattis and Otis' friendship blossomed at home with their owners Joseph and Brittany Scaramucci. The Scaramuccis had had the guinea pig for a number of years before Mattis came along. But, much to their surprise, the two really seemed to delight in each other's company when they met — so they made sure they got plenty of it. "Otis’ cage was right by Mattis’ kennel, so they were beside each other all night," Joseph Scaramucci told The Dodo. "When you took Otis out he would go to Mattis' and hang out." Like all good things, this friendship sadly came to an end. Last month, Otis grew weak and passed away of old age; Mattis never left his side. It was tough on the whole family — but then something happened that revealed the full extent of Mattis' heartache. A few days after Otis' passing, the Scaramuccis moved his cage outdoors with the intent to clean it. Mattis followed and, after watching for a moment, climbed inside the base of the cage where Otis had lived. Photo Credit: Joseph Scaramucci "It was heartbreaking," Brittany Scaramucci told The Dodo. Mattis could sense that Otis was really gone, it seemed, but he was having trouble accepting it. Lying where Otis had lived was a way of holding on. "He climbed in it and wouldn’t leave," Joseph said. That's not the only way Mattis expressed his grief. For several days after Otis died, Mattis wouldn't touch his food and seemed sad in general. The little guinea pig had cast a long shadow on Mattis' heart. It will undoubtedly take time for Mattis to heal from the loss of his friend, and his experience is indeed a sad one. But there is a lesson to be learned from his behavior — that animals, too, have emotions, and they're not so different from our own. Thankfully, Mattis won't have to learn to cope alone through this time of mourning. Photo Credit: Brittany Scaramucci The Scaramuccis say they're making sure Mattis is getting plenty of love and affection to help lift his spirits in the weeks going forward. Otis, of course, will never grace their lives again — but he'll never be forgotten. 2. Guy Refused To Adopt Because He 'Wasn't A Cat Person' — But Kitten Had Other Plans Photo Credit: Larry Ritchie Larry Ritchie has never really considered himself a cat person. About a month ago, he and his girlfriend were walking through their local SPCA and she asked him multiple times if he would be willing to adopt a kitten. Every time he said no — but one of the kittens at the shelter that day had other plans. Nirvana had been abandoned in a box outside the shelter with her siblings when she was just a few months old. As the staffers at the shelter got to know her, they found that she wasn’t a huge fan of being held and was a little nervous around new people, but all of that changed as soon as she met Ritchie and his girlfriend. “She was hesitant at first because we were told she didn’t like to be picked up,” Ritchie told The Dodo. “She let us pick her up and they said that it was unusual.” As soon as Nirvana met the couple, she warmed up to them immediately, and everyone who had worked with the kitten and knew her personality was shocked. Photo Credit: Larry Ritchie “She sat and purred in my lap as the lady said, ‘How? She won’t let anyone hold her!’ I knew I wanted her then,” Ritchie said. Even though Nirvana made a strong case trying to change Ritchie’s mind about cats, he and his girlfriend left the shelter without her — but Ritchie soon realized that he’d made a mistake, and that she was meant to be their kitten. “Initially I felt as if there was a lot more to handle at home and wasn’t sure if the responsibility would be more than we could keep up with,” Ritchie said. “But driving home from the shelter I changed my mind.” The couple contacted the shelter to say they wanted to adopt Nirvana after all, then waited to hear back, hoping for good news. They hoped they weren’t too late, but as it turned out, Nirvana was always meant to be their kitten. “[My girlfriend] had told me, ‘I have bad news and good news. The bad news is the cat got adopted today,’ and I was a bit upset considering we were waiting to hear back from the shelter,” Ritchie said. “But when she had told me, ‘The good news is it was by us,’ I was overjoyed and thought that it was the cutest surprise ever.” The couple rushed back to the shelter to pick up their new family member, and not only did Nirvana remember them, but she was just as overjoyed to see them as they were to see her. Photo Credit: Larry Ritchie “She would not stop meowing even after I had picked her up,” Ritchie said. Now, Nirvana is settling in wonderfully at her new home. She gets along so well with her dog siblings and loves her new parents so much — especially her dad, who, thanks to her, is now officially a cat person. 3. No One Wanted This Dog Because Of His Funny Teeth — Except One Family Photo Credit: Tessie Johnson In 2016, Tessie Johnson and her family went to KC Pet Project, a shelter in Kansas City, Missouri, to adopt a dog. Their eyes immediately fell on a 4-month-old Rottweiler puppy with a pronounced underbite, who’d been picked up as a stray. “He was the cutest thing ever,” Johnson told The Dodo. “They were saying that normally it’s easy to have puppies adopted because everyone loves puppies. But because of his teeth, a lot of people were turned off by him. And because he’s a Rottie, people also weren’t interested.” While no one knew why the puppy had an underbite, Johnson suspects it has to do with bad breeding practices. But to Johnson and her family — which includes her two parents, two brothers and one sister — the puppy’s underbite was an asset. “He was so cute, and his smile was hilarious,” Johnson said. “We were like, ‘Yup. That’s the one we’re getting,’ and he’s been the sweetest thing ever.” They took the puppy home that same day, naming him Biggie. The Johnson family quickly learned that Biggie’s underbite wasn’t the only quirky thing about him. He turned out to be a big goofball who loves to play. “He’s very energetic,” Johnson said. “He loves to run around. He’s got the zoomies all the time. He’s just a goofy little guy.” Photo Credit: Tessie Johnson "Our whole family is super silly and goofy," she added. "We like to dance and be silly and weird, so my mom always says that Biggie fits in perfectly with us because he’s the weirdest dog ever." Johnson also describes him as a “big scaredy cat” who’s frightened of vacuum cleaners, piñatas and certain stuffed animals. They also noticed Biggie’s underbite became more pronounced as he grew up, which Johnson and her family find adorable. “We thought that maybe it would go away, but it’s actually gotten worse as he’s gotten older, and I think it makes him more lovable,” Johnson said. “Some people might be scared of him at first because he’s a Rottweiler, but then they see his smile, and there’s no way you can be scared of him — he’s just too cute.” Biggie does have some minor issues — he is very scared of men, which led Johnson to speculate that Biggie was mistreated as a small puppy. “He’s just really skittish,” Johnson said. “He will not let them touch him. It takes him a while to warm up, and he kind of keeps his distance. But once he warms up, he’s the most playful thing ever.” Fortunately Biggie quickly bonded with Johnson’s family — including her brothers. “My sister and I are obsessed with him, and we baby him to death,” Johnson said. “He sleeps in my bed a lot of the time. He’s a cuddler. I just love him. He’s the cutest thing.” Photo Credit: Tessie Johnson Right before they got Biggie, Johnson and her siblings started going through something very difficult — their parents got a divorce. Fortunately, Biggie was there to help them through it. “Everyone was having a really hard time,” Johnson said. ”It was obviously horrible. Divorce is never fun. But as soon as we got Biggie, it was like the most comforting thing ever. I don’t know how to explain it, but he kind of brought our family back together. He’s the sweetest thing ever, and I love him to death. Johnson said it’s impossible now to imagine life without Biggie, who’s become a cherished member of her family. “He lit up our lives and we love him so much,” Johnson said. These Animal Friends Are Meeting For The First Time [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( The Dodo 100 Crosby St., 201 New York, NY 10012 [Forward]( [Unsubscribe](