Aren’t inter-species friendships the best? While both of the animals in this story belong to the feline family, they are, in fact, different species. One is a domestic calico cat and the other a stealthy and predatory lynx.

But despite their differences, they are now the best of friends.

The story of how the two came to meet has been reported in two different ways. Some say that the little calico was a street cat who wandered hungrily into the lynx’s enclosure at the Leningrad Zoo in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was apparently looking for food and wound up getting a warmer welcome than expected.

The more likely story is the one reported by outlets such as ABC News, which claims that zookeepers filmed the cats bonding and posted the footage in 2014 because it was a happy ending to their experiment. They had intentionally brought in the kitten, named Dusya, to keep their new baby lynx, Linda, company when both felines were just 6 weeks old. That was in 2007.

The zookeepers weren’t sure the two would bond, so they introduced them slowly, giving them limited time with each other at first. But since the two got along so well, they began to live and play together 24/7 not long after meeting.

The lynx is a big cat related to tigers, lions, and jaguars. But it also shares traits with its relatives in the domestic cat species. And they are all members of the Felidae family.

Cats – and especially lynxes – are normally solitary creatures, but in this case, Linda was apparently happy to have a pal.

Even though a viral video of them cleaning one another was posted in 2014, according to ABC News, the pair had already been friends for 7 years at that point!

And despite their size difference, they’ve played together without any trouble from the very beginning.

The duo is now known for being inseparable and the zoo formally adopted the calico cat years ago so that the pair could live out their days together.

By all accounts, their friendship was been going strong for over 12 years now (which is longer than the average life expectancy of a lynx, though animals in captivity tend to live longer because of a lack of predators).

The two spend their time grooming each other, snuggling, napping in cardboard boxes, playing with their toys, and now growing old together.

While seeing a lynx get along with a housecat has given plenty of people the sense that they would make good housepets, a lot of care and training goes into trying to keep a wild animal in your home. They are legal in many places to keep as pets as long as a person has the right permit, but they have very specific needs and it’s not uncommon for them (as well as other wild animals) to be abandoned to rescues once owners realize they don’t have what it takes.

Some consider it unethical to own wild animals, but people do it and breeders sell them. Owners even readily introduce lynxes into houses with domestic cats as well as dogs!

As for Linda and Dusya, the last anyone knew they were still alive and well. There has been no indication on any of the zoo’s social media pages that either one has passed away despite their advanced ages.

Be sure to scroll down below to see one of their many viral videos – this one of a sweet bath.

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Source: ABC News, KFOR News, USA Today, ignoramusky via YouTube