When SaVanna McLaughlin noticed her Lab, Sandy, digging under the backyard fence, she was frustrated. No matter how many times she tried to stop him, Sandy kept returning to the same spot, determined to get through to the other side.
For weeks, McLaughlin had no idea what was driving Sandy’s obsession — until one afternoon, she caught sight of something unusual.
“To my surprise, I saw the cutest little white paw waving through the fence,” McLaughlin told The Dodo.
That paw belonged to her neighbor’s cat, Bitty Kitty. It turned out that Sandy hadn’t been trying to escape at all — he was simply trying to reach his new best friend.
The two refused to let a fence keep them apart. Soon after, Bitty Kitty took things up a notch. One night, McLaughlin awoke to a tapping sound at her bedroom window.
“I was terrified at first,” she recalled. “But when I opened the curtains, there was Bitty Kitty with her face pressed against the glass. And right behind her, Sandy put his head against the window too.”
From that moment on, Bitty Kitty visited the window night after night, until McLaughlin decided it was time to let the friends officially meet.
“When I brought the cat inside, it was literally like they knew each other from another lifetime,” McLaughlin said.
Instantly, Sandy lay down on the floor, and Bitty Kitty curled against him, kneading biscuits into his fur.
McLaughlin later learned that Bitty Kitty had been rescued as a kitten by her neighbor, Marcie Rome, who also shares her home with another Lab named Daisy. Having grown up around dogs, Bitty Kitty felt right at home with Sandy.
Here's Bitty Kitty with Daisy when she was still a kitten:
Though Sandy had never lived with a cat before, his bond with Bitty Kitty was effortless. “I was so surprised,” McLaughlin said. “They went from waving through the fence, to tapping on the window, to being inseparable.”
Now, the two spend their days visiting each other’s homes, sharing playdates and cuddles. What began as a paw through a fence has grown into a true friendship — proving that sometimes, soulmates really do live right next door.
