Puppy And Baby Cheetah Are BFFs. When Little Ruuxa Needs Surgery, Raina’s Reaction Is Heartbreaking

When Ruuxa the cheetah was born, she was all alone.

Normally, cheetahs give birth to more than one cub but unfortunately for Ruuxa, she had no brothers and sisters.

The worst part is that adult cheetahs know single cubs can’t survive on their own, so the mother abandoned Ruuxa in the wild.

The poor little creature surely would’ve perished had it not been for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. They rescued him and cared for him.

Thing is, Ruuxa still needed a best friend. But instead of turning to another cheetah, the zookeepers had another idea:

They decided to introduce the lonely cub to Raina, an 8-week-old Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy.

Said Janet Rose-Hinostroza, the park’s training supervisor:

“The point of bonding them from this very young age, was that they’d have a relationship that would be more like siblings than like friends.”

And boy did it work.

The two babies were instant fast friends and they cavorted about together, happy as clams.

But one day, medical experts noticed something was wrong with Ruuxa: Her front legs were growing into a bow shape, which wasn’t good news.

It’s called a “valgus abnormality” and vets would have to fix it if Ruuxa would have any hope of running correctly when he got older.

Raina stood vigil outside the operating room the whole time, clearly concerned for her friend.

The good news is the surgery was a great success and Ruuxa and Raina were closer than ever before! Added Janet:

 “We couldn’t keep Raina away from Ruuxa, or Ruuxa away from Raina. They weren’t apart for fifteen minutes.”

Furthermore, Janet thinks Raina’s support “helped stimulate Ruuxa’s recovery,” and sped things up. These two were obviously meant to be together forever, right?

Well, watch the video below after 2 years have passed, and you decide…

Source: Dog And Cheetah Are Still Best Friends Years After Meeting As Babies by rumblestaff on Rumble

Source: Honest to Paws