Man Returns Home After Almost a Year Abroad, Can’t Believe Cat’s Reaction

Whether you’ve been gone for a few hours or a few days, nothing beats returning home to your beloved pet and seeing their joyful reaction as you walk through the door. But that wasn’t the case for this cat owner, who has gone viral after showing the unenthusiastic response he received.

After working abroad for 10 months, Pedro Enrique Pulido Ortega could hardly contain his excitement at the prospect of being reunited with his cat Leo, who he’d missed so dearly. Unfortunately for Ortega, that feeling wasn’t mutual because Leo showed zero emotion when his owner returned, despite being apart for so long.

Any hopes of Leo running up to him and jumping into his arms quickly faded, as Ortega, from Barcelona, Spain, told Newsweek that it was “as if he didn’t know” who he was. Some pets will give their owner a warmer welcome when they leave the house for a mere 15 minutes, but not Leo. Clearly, Ortega has got to earn his trust again.

As he was expecting a far more memorable reunion, Ortega was recording the entire time because he wanted to capture Leo’s love for him. Well, that didn’t happen. He couldn’t resist sharing the hilarious clip on TikTok (@pedro.enrique.p) to show how unexpected the reaction was.

The video has delighted many people online, and since it was shared on March 5, it has already been viewed over 24 million times and received more than 2.7 million likes.

Ortega said: “I went to work abroad for almost a year, and I left Leo with my wife, Noelia, and my two children. When I came back, I recorded the moment to see his reaction, but he acted like he didn’t even know me. I expected him to come running as soon as he heard the door, but he didn’t move from his bed.”

Despite his initial reservations, Leo has started to warm to his owner again and went up to Ortega for a fuss in the days after. But he’s certainly learned his lesson, as he joked that he “will try not to go away for quite as long” next time, because he doesn’t want to face Leo’s wrath again.

It became a lasting memory for all the wrong reasons, and now Leo has even become a viral sensation. The reaction to the post has been quite unimaginable for Ortega, who only expected it to be seen by his close friends and family.

At the time of writing, the TikTok post has gained more than 24,300 comments as social media users can’t get enough of Leo’s attitude. Some things just can’t be taught.

One comment reads: “He’s mad because you left.”

Another person responded: “He’s about to ask you when are you leaving again.”

While another TikToker joked: “He’s soooo over you.”

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