Cat's Reaction to Tail After Surgery Is Priceless: 'The Look of Betrayal'

A cat's reaction to his brother attacking his "rat tail" has TikTokers in hysterics, as the video received 2.7 million views.

In the funny footage shared by Janet Boltz (@rustyandbutters), Butters can be seen vigorously cleaning himself, one leg akimbo. His brother Rusty takes this opportunity to pat Butters' tail, which had been recently shaved for surgery.

"Ever since they were reunited a few weeks ago, Rusty has been obsessed with Butters' tail," Boltz told Newsweek. "He stares at it and swats it all the time."

However, Rusty isn't the only one confused by his brother's furless tail. After Rusty taps him, Butters looks down at his tail questioningly, as if realizing it's there for the first time.

After grabbing his own tail, he looks up at Boltz with a disturbed expression on his face. To make the situation even more hilarious, Boltz has soundtracked the clip to rapper Cardi B's "Oh my god what is that?" meme.

Filmed in March 2020, the sound clip features Cardi B reacting to a phone call about coronavirus and yelling "Oh my God, what is that?"—perfectly summing up Butters' reaction.

"So many people mentioned that clip I thought I should try to use it," Boltz said. "I had to use Google to figure out what people were talking about."

Boltz adopted Rusty and Butters from the Michigan Animal Rescue League in September 2020, after their previous owner moved away and abandoned them.

Rescuers guessed their ages to be around 4 years old. Although they were unsure if Rusty and Butters are biological brothers, they are definitely a bonded pair.

"They wrestle like typical brothers but cuddle as well and always seem to be together," Boltz said.

Wanting to give them humorous names, Boltz named them after Rusty Griswold from the National Lampoon Vacation movies and Butters, after Leopold "Butters" Stotch from South Park.

In March, Butters' tail was trapped in the bathroom door, with the damaged tip needing to be surgically removed. Known as a partial caudectomy, the tail needs to be shaved beforehand. Depending on the length of the cat's coat, it can take between two and six months for a healthy feline's fur to grow back.

The pair had to spend a few weeks apart while Butters recovered from his operation. Since being reunited, Rusty has been preoccupied with Butters' shaved tail, which Boltz has affectionally dubbed his "rat tail."

"It isn't too often that you see a fuzzy cat with a hairless tail," she said.

Apparently, Butters has been "amazingly tolerant" of Rusty's constant harassment. That is, unless Rusty bites his tail, then all bets are off.

TikTokers couldn't get enough of Butters' stunned reaction, with Ebony Jade calling it "perfect."

"Had this been here all this time," joked SweetestGigi. "He's like 'it's all your fault mom,'" said Hankie poo.

"The look of betrayal," agreed pink spawn. "That's how I feel when I find a new wrinkle," wrote Jenni Potts.

"My orange boi will never stop thinkin his tail is a total surprise," commented Lauren.

Others found the sibling rivalry hilarious, with rayrayjj writing: "He said no touchy."

"This is MINE. get yours and play with it," commented John.

Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.

Correction 05/16/23, 3:28 a.m. ET: This article was updated to correct how Butters' tail was injured. He was injured by a bathroom door, not a car door.