YouTubeMeet Ruth (the cat) and Idgie (the dachshund). They are best friends (that's how they got their names, from the inseparable duo in Fried Green Tomatoes), and you're about to be very jealous that you can't be their best friend too.
When the two were found, abandoned at the end of a driveway in Florida last October, 2-year-old Idgie refused to leave 7-month-old Ruth's side, protectively barking whenever anyone came near his kitten friend.
"It was really a strange situation. Both of them were found in fairly good shape. Not filthy or malnourished," Diane Gagliano, of the local animal services, tells the Orlando Sentinel. "So it seems as though they probably had a home at some point."
She continues, "But on the flip side, no one came and claimed them, and how could the cat get very far without the owner knowing?" That is because Ruth is paraplegic must drag herself with her front paws, as her back legs are limp ("Something she was born with," Gagliano suspects).
Now, Idgie and Ruth have a forever home at the Hollywood Houndz Boutique & Spa, where owner Jacqueline Borum has adopted the friends. And Idgie is still protective of his pal: The two share a pen and whenever another dog approaches, the dachshund will stand between Ruth and the other dog and bark.
"When Idgie gets a new toy, she always takes it over to the cat, Ruth," Borum says. "They pretty much share everything.
"I mean, we've seen friendships between dogs and cats before, but never anything like this. Idgie would take a bullet for that cat."